Chocolate
by ZombySwag
Summary: What happens after Loki falls from the Rainbow Bridge? Loki needs a mental break...M rating for later chapters
1. Not Quite Dead

**Forward: **Ok, so here it goes: my first FanFic _EVER. _I was just in a Loki kinda mood for this one. Love that man, especially since Hiddleston portrayed him in the films. Like I said, this is my first fic so let me have it (critiques). I've got a hide of leather so I can take your honest opinions. But above all, I honestly hope you have fun reading it. :)

**Disclaimer:** The only time I own Loki is in my dreams. Other than that, he and Thor, etc. (except Noni, she's mine) as portrayed in this work of fiction are the property of Marvel. Yadda yadda yadda.

**Update! 4/14/2013: **The first couple of opening sentences were contradictory, so I went back and changed them so that they make sense now. Sorry about that. Read on!

Here goes.

* * *

It had been three weeks since Loki found out who he was. Every day since then very day, it consumed him; these new powers, this deepening sense of abandonment and alone-ness.

He had known since a young age that he was different, but try as he might, he couldn't quite place the reason. Now he knew. His true people, the frost giants of Jötunheim were hated amongst the Asgardians, and for good reason.

They were a hideous and violent race, their only purpose to destroy. He hated that part of himself ever since he came to know of its existence. But still…in his heart of hearts there was some small part of him that resented his parents Odin and Frigga for keeping him in the dark for all of his life.

And Thor, with his _hulking_ mass that he liked to throw around, not even deserving of glory as the true heir… It was all just too much. Despite popular belief, Loki was able to feel, and quite deeply too. The jests of the Warriors Three were meant to sting, he always knew. And it wasn't just because Loki was Thor's little brother wanting to tag along, not anymore. He knew that they sensed that he was different and they despised him for it. So he let go of his staff and fell into the abyss of the universe.

He needed to get away from this place, if only for a moment. He didn't want to be followed or tracked or seen or heard. And it was still possible, even though Thor had destroyed the Rainbow Bridge.

He was falling into nothingness.

With a gesture of his hand down the entire front of his torso, he disappeared from the realm of Asgard, leaving not a scent behind that could be picked up by that meddlesome_ oaf_, Heimdall. He didn't even think twice about all that had just occurred. He pushed it out of his mind like a bad dream.

Now was time for rest.

He appeared over a field of rolling green fields and lowered himself gently to the ground with a soft thud. Closing his eyes, he took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. This place smelled different from his "home", he thought—but quickly put that thought away from his mind. There was the faint scent of metal in the air along with something fleetingly rotten. He opened his eyes and burst both feet off the ground in an instant, propelling himself forward over green pastures, white fences, and red huts.

He passed a couple of white creatures, one with black oblong spots, one with horns. The latter was mounting the former in what was the unmistakable ritual of mating in any realm, something Loki only partook in once, and that was because Thor felt sorry for him and asked one of the Asgardian "maidens" to do him a favor…things with Lorelei have been awkward ever since.

But seeing those two Midgardian beasts in their most primal state stirred something deep within. Perhaps thus was the source of his tension, and perchance he needed a release. He flew relentlessly, enjoying the freedom of the wind whipping through his jet black locks.

Over crop and meadow and lake he flew, dragging his long fingers through the cool water, feeling the weight of the world ever dropping from his shoulders. Then THWACK!, ZZZZZZZIIIPPPP! He felt as though someone was thrusting a million white-hot pokers against his skin all at once.

He used the last fragment of strength he had left from his battle with Thor just moments ago to place an invisible shield between him—and the power line he had just flown into. Nearby, on the ground, Twenty-four year old Noni James clutched her angrily thumping chest.

* * *

Whoop, there it is. So what do you think? Scrap it, keep going? It's kind of short, I know, but I want you guys to get a feel of it before I post anything longer. :)


	2. Broadway

**A/N:** Thanks and congrats to Pari for being my first reviewer and story follower! Woo! Thank's girl! I told you we were going to be BFF's :P. But yeah, Loki is great. He's not all bad which makes his character complex and interesting...more to come on that. Don't get me wrong, Thor is hot and all but Loki is more interesting. I have kind of a thing for tortured souls. Stay tuned! ^_^

* * *

Despite having put up the body-barrier, Loki lay in a smoking heap at Noni's feet. Her Doberman sniffed at the face-down body, and Noni, not knowing at the moment whether she should call the police or the ambulance or the National Guard, squatted down on the tips of her toes for a better look.

She still hadn't recovered enough from being nearly crushed to death by a man who fell out of the sky to come to her complete senses…and why, she thought, the hell was he wearing a green…cape?

"Hey…hey mister, you okay?"

Noni cautiously lifted a corner the deep evergreen garment from the gentleman's face that was thrown askew when he landed. Curious for a closer look too, the Doberman, Grimm sniffed and licked the tip of the stranger's nose, to which Loki responded with a groan.

Noni stumbled back onto her butt in surprise.

"Hey, mister! Should I call you an ambulance?"

Loki slowly pressed his palms into the ground and lifted his head up, coming face to face with Grimm, who proceeded to grant him another long lick from his chin to his forehead. Loki, not liking the creature so close to his face, grabbed it by the throat harshly.

"Yo! What the fuck are you doing! Let him go you crazy bastard!"

Noni, still on her butt, dealt a swift kick to Loki's chin and he toppled back again, unconscious. It wasn't because of the kick that he had passed out-his strength and weight were immense, after all. But he was fatigued by having over a thousand volts of pressurized electricity run through him. And despite Noni being a bit ticked that he had just tried to strangle her dog, she was too nice of a person to just leave him in the street. He looked well enough that she didn't think he needed an ambulance. In this part of upstate New York, and during this time of year, the roads were bad and they took forever to come anyway.

She called for her neighbor and his teen son when she saw that she couldn't budge anything but one of his arms on her own, and they helped drag him into the house via two skateboards and lay him on a couch.

"Who the hell is this character?" Danny from 11a asked. "He blow in from Broadway? The fuck is he wearin'?"

"Hell if I know, Danny…I know I don't like not having power. This asshole came crashing out of nowhere into the power line and crashed into my feet!"

This wasn't your typical guy. He was heavy as a sumo wrestler, if not heavier, though his body seemed quite slender. His hair was jet-jet black, and he was wearing a green garment beneath silver…armor? Not to mention the cape!

"Hey, I got it from here, Danny, Jake. Thanks for lugging this guy in for me."

"You sure you want us to leave you alone with this guy? I mean, I—we can stay if you need us to." Danny had a thing for Noni ever since she moved in two years ago. He was living alone with his son. His wife left him thirteen years before for some small-time producer in California. It was always innocent with him, but sometimes the way he looked at her made her a bit...uneasy...

"I'm sure D. You know Grimm's got my back, I'll holler if I need you, I promise."

"Okay, I'm right next door. Don't you hesitate."

With that, the duo left Noni there with the tall, dark, odd stranger. With a sigh, Noni left her living room to grab a damp towel for the guy's forehead. She knelt down beside him and proceeded to uncover his face from beneath the hair that laid strewn across it. She hadn't noticed before, but he was quite handsome. He was also quite pale, with a pleasing angular features and a serious-looking, determined expression, even while K.O.'d.

He began to stir. Quickly, not wanting to become another near-strangulation victim, Noni abandoned the towel on his head and moved over into the arm-chair in the opposite corner of the room. She watched him, her feet pulled up against her chest. Grimm let out a pitiful whimper, no doubt remembering what he'd gone through earlier, and went off into the kitchen. Yeah, Grimm would be her savior alright.

The man on the couch began panting heavily _"No,"_ he said, _"I am not like them…I am not one of them! Who am I? Who…am…"_ Nothing. After that, he said nothing. He was still again. Noni sat, perched in her seat in utter confusion and curiosity. There was not much to do now but to eat, feed Grimm, go to bed, and wait for the power line to be restored. Danny had called into town after the incident. But instead of going off to bed, she sat in her chair, braided her long, thick hair back, and read by candlelight until she drifted off into a dreamless slumber.

* * *

Oh boy, she fell asleep in the same room as Loki Laufeyson. WHAT IS SHE DOING! I've decided to keep the chapters kind of short for the moment. I'm still writing it, so whenever I come to an end-point, if I deem it fit, it will be the end of the chapter. But don't worry. I will try to upload at least one chapter a day. TRY!


	3. Mini-Midgard

**A/N: **If you see any typos, don't hesitate to let me know. I found one yesterday and plucked that sucker out.

* * *

Loki had awakened in the middle of the night to a massive headache and the dull glow of a candle illuminating a dark form in the corner of the room.

Holding out his hand and blowing gently into his palm, he brought to life a gently glowing ball of ice to light the dark. He held it questioningly towards the dark figure, Grimm growled as Loki's hand approached his master's sleeping form, curled into a helpless mortal ball in her over-sized arm-chair.

Loki's head snapped towards the foot of the chair where the dog rested and tilted his head slightly in interest.

"What beast are you?" Loki questioned aloud.

"He's a miniature Doberman."

Noni, who was a light sleeper, had two large, brown doe-eyes fixed on the glowing ball in Loki's hand.

"Who…_what_ are you?" She absentmindedly asked of the god. She was almost hypnotized by the ball's eerie, pale-white glow.

"Which do you prefer me answer first, little mortal? On second thought, I believe _I_ should be the one asking you who _you_ are, since you are holding me captive in this…" He glanced around the dark room "…place"

"Whoa…" Noni's trance broke at the word captive. "Captive? _You're_ the idiot who crashed into _my_ power line and landed face first on the pavement. I'm not holding you captive, you got knocked out so I dragged your ass in here for you to rest! I'm not exactly_ close_ to any hospitals and you're heavy as a lead elephant, in case you didn't know."

At that Loki let a grin in Noni's direction, bemused by her sudden rage. She was rather petite, and mortal no doubt. He knew that he had landed in Midgard, the land of the mortals, he had just never physically been there before.

"And how, pray tell, did you 'drag my ass' in here, tiny mortal maiden? You don't look like you contain much strength. Let alone the strength to move _me_."

Noni looked harassed. "You know what, you look like you're just fine to me, how's about you go back to wherever the hell it is you came from?"

With that, Loki's amused grin faded. It was replaced by a pained grimace. A look Noni knew all too well. He bounced his palm gently into the air and the ball of light hovered there, then he sat back on the couch.]

Noni immediately regretted her tantrum. She could tell by his body language and general shift of countenance that this man was hurting over something.

"Oh," was all she could muster up to say.

"Forgive me," Loki quietly stated as he arose, the ball of light lifting to meet his shoulder, "I will leave you now. Thank you for your hospitality." With that, he turned as if to go, but remembered he wasn't in familiar territory. "If you would be so kind as to show me the way out, I shall trespass no longer." He was in no mood or condition to force himself into his usual haughty, argumentative rebuttals. He felt broken.

Whoever this guy was, Noni thought to herself, he sure had an interesting way of speaking. And he was so…polite. And that accent... But it was dark, and late, and he had basically told her he had no home to go to. They were also in the Catskill mountains, and quite a few miles from any sort of airports or train stations. Cabs also never came out this far unless you were willing to pay an arm and a leg. So she did what and decent American would do, in her opinion.

"Wait…you don't have to go. You can stay here, at least until it's daylight out and you figure out what you want to do next."

"You show too much kindness. You have my eternal gratitude." In all honesty, despite pride and airs, Loki knew he was in no shape to do much at the moment. He just wanted the company of someone who didn't know what lies to tell him or how to hurt him. This tiny mortal maiden seemed like a fair candidate, though it was dark and the faint glow from the ice ball did little to illuminate the room.

"Really, it's no problem. You can follow me upstairs. I have a guest room nobody ever uses. I just need a candle or something...you know, you kind of knocked all the lights out when you crashed."

"My sincerest apologies, madame, really. But as you can see, you shan't need candlelight this night."

With that, a wave of his hands and a devilish grin, little balls of light danced throughout the living room and around her and Grimm's heads, to which the dog abruptly barked and tried to bite at them.

"Well I guess not…saves me a couple bucks on my bill" She chuckled then led the way up the stairs, with Grimm trailing behind her, and Loki following suite.

The balls of light ascended the stairs with the party of three, illuminating various portraits and pictures along the walls that Loki looked at, fascinated. They were all so small compared to the giant hand-painted portraits in Asgard. At the top of the stairs, Noni veered right to a room a bit down the hall from the staircase.

"Here we are. Make yourself at home. I'll be back with a towel and a washcloth and more blankets."

"You are ever so kind, Noni. Many thanks unto you yet again."

"It's no problem…uh…oh wow, I just realized we've never officially introduced ourselves. My name's Noni." Noni held an outstretched hand to Loki, looking for him to shake it.

"Slipped my mind entirely, how rude of me. I am Loki, Odi-…Just…Loki." He took her hand and placed a single, gentle kiss on it.

"Oh…kay, well It's nice to meet you, Loki. I'm really sorry, but I don't have anything for you to wear, and excuse me but you look kinda…uncomfortable, for sleeping that is. The suit is lovely otherwise."

Loki offered wide smile, knowing full well she had never seen such handsome, high-quality, custom, handmade attire before. "Never you mind, Noni, I am well equipped for such matters." With a gesture down his front, his suit of emerald-green armor was replaced by beautiful dark green robe with silver trim. "You may not want to be…here when I go to rest. I do not sleep clothed, you see."

"Oh? Oh! Oh, right, my bad…okay, I'm going now I'll be just down the hallway if you need anything. Just knock and I'll be ready…to help, that is. To help you if you need anything…I mean if you need help with anything. Right, I said that. Okay, good night!" A rambling Noni backed out of the room hopefully before Loki could see the fool she was making of herself. Then she realized the hallway was pitch black, and she had left the candles and the matches somewhere downstairs. Hesitantly, she knocked. "Um…Loki, do you think I could borrow—"

The door swung open just enough to reveal the pale glow of one of the balls of light and the pale, chiseled chest it illuminated.

"Certainly, milady…good night." He offered a small smile before closing the door—which Noni wasn't paying attention to since she only came up to his bicep. She was too focused on the rock hard pair of pecs before her, that is until the door closed and she was left standing in the hallway once again. But at least she could see this time...somewhat.

The tiny glittering orb tittered this way and that about her head as it followed her into her own bedroom. After the day she'd had, she was glad for her comfy satin-covered king-sized bed. One that she bought knowing it was way too big for her petite self. More room to sleep wild. She was sick of rolling off smaller beds. She slipped out of her hoodie leaving her in her t-shirt and sweatpants (that she normally wouldn't be wearing if her beautiful gas heater was working) and between the silken sheets of her bed. On top she made sure to have her over-sized duvet blanket.

She rested her head against the smooth pillowcase and began drifting off into a peaceful, safe-feeling sleep—despite having a complete stranger sleeping two doors away. The little glittering ball of light flickered for a moment more, then went out.

Suddenly, her eyes flew open and the glittering ball once again burst to life.

"What in the seven hells am I thinking? I don't even know this man and his glittering balls! But…who am I to judge?" She thought to herself as she stared into the distance, momentarily haunted by the ghosts of her past. Then she frowned. She slipped quietly out of bed and over to her oaken armoire where she kept her revolver. "Just in case..." It was a gift from her sister before she moved upstate. She slipped it easily under her unoccupied pillow and fell asleep just a bit easier.

In his room, Loki lay on the firm mattress of the queen-sized bed awake.

He pondered the series of events of the last 24 hours and made up in his mind that they were very strange; he flew into something called a "power line." Power lines hurt; he was saved by a mortal and her 'minature Doberman'. It was starting to seem to him that everything in Midgard was miniature, including the women, who were usually quite tall in Asgard; he practically ran away from home like a mere child, but he had no regrets about that.

As a matter of fact, he was looking forward to acting as if that part of his life didn't exist at the moment. It came as a much needed mental break.

Somehow, being electrocuted put him in a state of non-caring. He felt as if that power line had zapped away all his worries and now he was here in a new world completely capable of starting anew. And his mini-mortal hostess was…interesting. He would save the light of day to get to know her more tomorrow.

The balls of light he conjured were limited in the strength of their illumination—partly because the shock had left him a bit drained, but also because he was too busy contemplating his on-a-whim decision to abandon his old life in Asgard—even if just for a while…

For the first time in weeks he felt the ghost of a thing called peace wash over him.

No more worrying about that stupid lug Thor and his dung-for-brains ruling over Asgard. Those people didn't even matter now.

No more coming in second place.

No more Warriors Three and their "harmless jokes".

He too found solace in the light-ball's fading glow and fell asleep.

But in the back of his mind, that ever-present need to prove himself was still there.

It lay in wait, ready to be illuminated like the tiny ball of light that gently faded into darkness.


	4. Chocolate

**A/N:** Of course it isn't obligatory, but reviews help a lot for those of us who want to become better writers. So if you have some time, review. :)

* * *

The next morning, Loki awakened to a mouth-watering scent…one of which he was not familiar. He got up and dressed himself in a simple forest green tunic and black trousers along with mid-calf lace up black boots.

After conjuring up a porcelain bowl of clean water on the dresser and washing up, he made his way out into the hall and toward the stairs. He noticed that Noni's door was open and she was not in bed, so he proceeded to follow his nose to seek out the source of the decadent aroma…the kitchen.

But before he could enter, he was greeted by a whimpering Grimm, who had not forgotten nearly meeting puppy-heaven at Loki's rough hand.

"Be calm, beast, I mean you no harm." Loki said to the dog before leaning down to pat his head. Grimm's sharply clipped ears twitched a bit before he found comfort in Loki's touch and returned the gesture with a lick to his fingers and a cheery bark.

At that, Noni who was at the stove turned her head and offered a smile. And by the gods, this woman was beautiful. Loki caught himself quickly, for he was staring. He cleared his throat.

"Good morrow, Noni. I hope you are well this fine day."

"Good morning. I'm good, thanks. I hope you slept okay on that mattress, it's a little on the hard side. Oh, and I'm making breakfast. Just take a seat at the table, I'm almost done."

Loki went over to the small square table by the sunny window and took the seat that was facing the stove. The chair creaked underneath him, painfully aware that it wasn't designed to handle god-weight; it held him, nonetheless.

He casually ran a hand through his jet locks, looked up at the ceiling and then rolled his eyes to the form of the woman at the stove, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible with his staring. He took in the full roundness of her behind as she stood at the stove wearing gray pants that accentuated those..._child-bearing hips_. The dip at her waist, hugged by a tight-fitting black material that revealed an ever-so-slim portion of the small of her back that was alluringly dimpled on either side, just above her rear. His eyes moved up the back of her tank-top to what sat against it; thick locks of deep mahogany-brown kinks and curls that he felt he wanted to touch. Her shoulders were the color of a deep smooth bronze with a radiant glow about them…but his eyes went straight back to those hips and how grabbable—

"Breakfast is ready!"

Noni declared turning to face Loki who smiled nervously recovering from the trance he was in, trying to look as un-guilty as possible. But her face didn't present much relief to his malaise, it was as exquisite as the rest of her (that he could see, that is); her cheeks were high and radiant; her bosom was round and ample-enough for his taste; her eyes were of a bright, deep brown and the whites were electrically white; her smile was like the sun exploding. He looked away, embarrassed for a number of different reasons that he would ponder later. Now was the time to be polite.

"I made bacon…turkey bacon, blueberry pancakes, and scrambled eggs. And here's the O.J." she said, the clear Simply container filled with yellowy-orange fluid in the middle of the already-set table.

"I also have apple juice if you would prefer that. Honestly, eat or drink whatever what you want, I used the blueberries because they'd thawed a little overnight in the freezer."

"Thank you, Noni, this all looks fantastic." He said, making _very_ brief eye contact. "Um, forgive me, but what exactly is 'Oh Jay', as you say?" Noni looked incredulous.

"O.J. stands for orange juice…" She hadn't been sure whether or not she would need to tell him what an orange was, so she just stopped there.

"Ah, I see." He still looked a bit nervous. He had no idea what an orange was, or what a 'pancake' was for that matter, as they did not have either of those in Asgard. But he was a god, and gods didn't need re-education in such trifling matters. He lifted the glass of bright orange fluid to his lips and took a hazardous sip.

"Hm, that is...delicious!"

"Yeah…I like it too." She paused and looked down at her plate, then back at Loki. "I'm going to take a guess and say that you're definitely not from anywhere around here…at all."

Loki placed the glass back on the table before him and looked down guiltily. Not that he at all expected her to think he was a Midgardian. It was good that she did not-he was a god, after all, clear as day.

"No, I am not. I will be candid with you, Noni. I am not from your world." He made eye contact with her then. Though his arrogance was glad she didn't associate him with her world, he was nervous of being shunned by even a mortal at this point. Something deep and inexplicable within him wanted acceptance from this woman, mortal or not. His green eyes looked into her milk chocolate ones, searching.

"Where are you from?" She asked, taking a bite of her pancakes after having drizzled them with syrup. Loki was completely taken aback by her nonchalance and non-judgmental demeanor. He stared at her for a moment, his mouth slightly agape before answering.

"I am Loki...Odinson, Prince of Asgard…or at least I thought I was. Now I am no longer certain."

"I see…well we can talk about that later. Now, we eat blueberry pancakes!" With that, Noni took another bite. She had many questions, but being the good judge of mood as she was, she could tell that Loki was dealing with some things. Her grandmother always took her mind off a problem before it was time to talk about it. She'd learned to do the same. The time would come, just not now. Loki was surprised, but glad the subject had changed.

"I must admit, I have never had food of this likeness before," he said as he mimicked Noni's addition of syrup and butter to his stack of steaming-hot flapjacks. He took a bite of the substance into his mouth and began to chew…then his entire countenance changed. "By the gods, this is…" He swallowed that bite and took another, then another, and then another until the stack was gone. Then he went after the eggs atop which sat melted sharp-cheddar cheese and finally the bacon, a salty-smoky, absolutely mouth-watering thing. He washed it all down with several large gulps of 'O.J.' and sighed, contentedly.

Grimm and Noni were both sitting there in awe of the entire situation.

"Noni, might I trouble you for…more, please?"

Noni passed over her plate without a word and watched a repeat of the process.

"Gees…you can sure put it away."

Loki scarfed down the second offering and sighed yet again, really full this time.

"That was the most delicious meal I have ever had the pleasure of consuming. Thank you."

"Anytime." Noni replied with a chuckle and a smile.

"You have a wonderful smile." Loki declared, the meal in his stomach having relaxed him a bit. A rich deep burgundy colored the apples of Noni's cheeks. "Thank you…you do, too." They sat for a moment gazing at each other before there was a knock at the door and Grimm took to barking and running towards the living room. "Excuse me, be right back." Noni got up from her seat and went to answer it. Loki's eyes followed.

"Hey, Danny. You're over early."

"Yeah," Danny said, taking a shifty step over the threshold, looking here and there for the weird stranger she was harboring. "Yeah, I just came by uh, to check on youse. Make sure youse were alright, y'know?"

Just then, Loki came strutting out of the kitchen. He was about a head taller than Danny. His broad shoulders and slim waist were a large contrast to Danny's stockier-yet-muscular build. Noni turned her back to Danny, waiting for Loki's approach. Loki caught Danny's eyes wander in unmistakable lust to Noni's backside. He looked down his slender nose at the shorter man with an obvious grimace of disapproval.

"Oh, yeah Danny everything's cool. This is Loki, Loki this is Danny, my next door neighbor. He's the guy who helped me get you inside." "Hey there uh, Lo..Loki? How's it goin'." Danny reached out his hand to shake Loki's, to which Loki grasped his forearm with no shortage of roughness and squeezed just enough to let him know he was significantly stronger than the mortal man before him, but not enough to break it.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance." He said with a slightly furrowed brow and a sour grin. Danny winced and hoped to god Noni didn't see it. He cleared his throat after breaking the 'handshake'

"Well, uh. I see you made breakfast Non's. Smells real good, you mind if I—"

"Actually, there is not a single morsel left, Dobby." Loki said as his palm prevented the smaller man from entering the threshold of the kitchen. "It's Danny...buddy. How's about you move your hand?" He said, glaring up at Loki.

"Danny, _was it_? I think it rude to enter a lady's home not having been invited inside. And to help yourself to her _sustenance_? I do believe you owe her an apology. Loki was looking into the mortal man's eyes, willing him to follow his orders.

"Yes, you are right," he turned around seemingly overcome with some peculiar change of heart. "I apologize Noni."

"Oh it's no trouble Danny...uh, what did you do again? I wasn't paying attention. But anyway, I should be getting ready for work. We can talk later." Noni was too busy responding to a delivery guy who had called her name from outside to be paying attention to the events that had taken place over her shoulder. She also noticed, while standing in the threshold of her front door that the power lines were being worked on. Hopefully they would be done before the day was up because she really needed to get to some files on her computer… Danny left without another word and Noni closed the door.

Loki was standing right there before her when she turned from the door. She gasped "Jesus! You know, for someone as heavy as you, you sure are light on your feet." Noni shivered, not at the closeness, but at the fact that she had been standing in the doorway in a tank top and it was about to start snowing outside. The stove had warmed up the entire kitchen so she failed to notice the cold inside.

"You are shivering, are you cold?"

Loki placed his long, lithe fingers around her shoulders and absorbed the chill from the surface of her skin.

"How…how are you doing that?" She asked, amazed.

"I can do many things…" He turned up his palms before her and small flecks of ice danced in them before seemingly being absorbed into his very flesh. Then he dropped his hands, cleared his throat and took a step back.

Noni noticed the space immediately. "I uh…I should to get ready for work. Do you think you'll be okay here by yourself for a while? I just need to go to the studio for a few hours, I'll try not to take long. Just make yourself at home and you can eat anything in the fridge…There's some ice cream in the freezer that's going to melt if it isn't eaten so just help yourself to it…though you probably have no idea what I'm talking about, so maybe I should show it to you. Just come with me for a sec." Loki began to notice a pattern the little lady had of rambling and moving her hands about when he got too close…he thought it had an alluring sweetness.

He followed her silently into the kitchen where she showed him this 'ice cream' she was referring to. Before she closed the fridge, a light came on. "Oh wow, that went faster than I expected. I guess that's 'cause they were here all morning. Well good, now I can see what I'm doing in the shower."

Loki just watched her, silent and interested. He followed her through the livingroom, listening to her going on about the last power outage she had endured in this house and how it had taken them three days to fix it. As they ascended the stairs and she went before him, he couldn't help but gaze at the plump, round derierre that sat swaying before him with each step. He tilted his head a bit to the side as he imagined what it looked like without that vision-obscuring fabric over them, and if it was as decadent a color as her shoulders, and he thought about how he would like to press his fingers into the dimples on either side of the small of her back. He hadn't even realized she was calling his name, or that he was standing at her bedroom door…

"Loki? Did you hear me?" She turned then, and he snapped out of his vexation not a moment too soon. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?" "…I said I left you a set of towels in your room so you can shower…you know, bathe?"

"Oh yes, indeed. Many thanks. Where is your bathhouse?"

"I…don't have one of those. But my bath-room is right here in the middle of the hall."

Noni was trying her best to remain neutral about finding out she was hosting a prince! Not to mention, she had absolutely no clue where Asgard was…perhaps she would stop by the library on her way back from the studio to see what she could dig up. She took a few moments to show Loki how to turn on the hot and cold water for the shower and the tub. The closest thing she had to a 'bathhouse' was a jet-stream jaccuzzi/bathtub.

Loki was amazed at her bathroom devices. Her blow-dryer, her sonic toothbrush, her various bottles and jars of hair and beauty potions, her toilet. But now it was time for him to go so she could take her shower. He left the room, reluctantly, back to his and exhaled completely as he laid across his bed looking up at the ceiling.

Absently, his thoughts roamed to visions of her naked in her bath, surrounded by suds and bubbles. She stands and the water drains off her body like a waterfall as she beckons him near with a finger…his loins stirred in heat and he sat bolt upright. What was he thinking? Harboring feelings of lust for a mortal.

Of what little he knew of the complexities of emotions, he was not a complete stranger to lust. There have been occasions where he had felt a heat in his nether regions when a maiden had bent over or had just the right amount of breast exposed. But this was different, _she_ was different. She was lovely-_"she is mortal"_. She was enticing-_"she is mortal"_. The couple of times he had been close enough to touch her and smell her, she had smelled of a mixture of spices and something he didn't know the name of-_"I am a god!"_ The skin of her shoulders was smooth and silken to the tips of his fingers…he thought all these things to himself, unaware that he had begun to smile.

Just then, Noni appeared in the doorway to let him know she was on her way out.

"Loki I…what are you smiling about?" Noni herself started to smile. She liked Loki. It was a comfort having him around, even though she knew absolutely diddly-squat about him. Danny was nice and all, but he had a tendency to be somewhat-overbearing at times. It had occasionally made her a bit uncomfortable when he just let himself in like earlier…

Loki cleared his throat. "I was just…thinking of breakfast," he lied.

"Okay, well I'm going now. I'll be back soon!" With that, she departed and Loki and Grimm who has in the back yard taking care of business at the moment, were left to their own devices. He decided to do a bit of investigating-or snooping, as Midgardians would say. Gods, after all, go where they please. He went into her room where her bed lay unmade. He closed his eyes and let his hand wander over the smooth surface of the satin sheets. They were of a rich golden color. Picking up the pillow, he brought it to his nose and inhaled deeply as he opened his eyes. Her scent was intoxicating. And this was just from her hair…Odin only knows how the rest of her smelled…that thought alone sent Loki reeling.

Thank goodness the pillow he picked up hadn't been the one with the gun beneath it. Heaven only knows how that might have turned out.

Finding his way into the bathroom, he ran the hot water in the tub and frantically disrobed. This whole scene was illogical madness to him, but he couldn't control himself. He was engorged. His hand reached down to grab his painfully throbbing erection and he stroked himself, vigorously. He needed the release that had been building since he saw the beasts in the field enjoying their own version of carnal pleasure, and now in the presence of this curvacious mortal woman.

He thought of her in the bath as he had done before. As he approached her beckoning finger, she snaked her wet arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss-he was getting closer. _"I want you"_ she whispered in his ear as her dripping hands slid down the front of his body. She grasped his aching cock in her both of her petite hands and stroked his length in a pulling motion. Then he was hit with that smell, that intoxicating, unknown fragrance washed away all his senses-that's all it took. His eyes burst open just long enough to see where he was aiming. He grabbed a towel quickly and finished himself off into it, panting heavily from the intensity. After that, he sank down into the hot, bubbling water. Spent.

It had been a while since he had done that. It always seemed so…undignified. But he couldn't deny the hormones that told him he needed it. "I am a god. I need no mortal woman to curb my desires..." he said aloud in self-confirmation.

After his bath, Loki dressed, this time barefoot, and trounced the rest of the house. He almost went into her room again, but decided it would be best not to.

By this time it was around 2:30 and he was a bit hungry so he went into the kitchen looking for that 'ice cream' Noni had mentioned to him before. She had two different varieties. One said 'Ben & Jerry's Strawberry Cheesecake,' the other said 'Turkey Hill Neapolitan' He liked the look of the middle portion of the Neapolitan…it reminded him of Noni's skin. He found something to eat it with (it was a fork) and he put the first bite into his mouth.

Instantly his face lit up. "THIS is what she smells like!" He exclaimed loudly, scaring away a surprised Grimm who whimpered out the back door. This substance that was like Valhalla in his mouth-"Chocolate. She smells of chocolate." He ate the entire middle part of the cold treat, enjoying the fact that it was cold almost as much as the flavor.

But to his dismay, he had grown another painful erection. He sighed and hung his head in shame as headed up to the bathroom…again.

* * *

**A/N:** Pwetty pwease?


	5. Snow

Meanwhile, Noni was finding it difficult to concentrate on her work. Her task of the day was to coordinate fabric swatches for her new dress designs, all she could think about was the color green. Loki's eyes were green, and piercing; they were beautiful. He fell out of the sky wearing green; he was always wearing something green. Deep, beautiful forest-

"Uh oh, Noni's got a man," Terrance, her gay co-worker said teasingly as he sat a pile of the correct swatches on her workbench.

"I do not! And anyway, how would you know you?"

"Guuurl, it's written all over that pretty little face. Who is it? Is it Danny? Ooooh, girl you finally broke him off a piece? I knew you would!"

"Shh! Damn, Terry you're so loud!" Noni looked around frantically, making sure no one heard him, then she grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him into the lady's room. "NO, I didn't have sex with Danny. I know you want him for yourself anyway."

"Well, I'd take him if his door swung my way. That man is fine. Who is it that has your head in the clouds today?" And Noni explained to him the odd events of the past forty-eight hours. Terrence looked highly interested at the mention of jet black hair, bright green eyes, 6'4 and hard, lean muscle. He seemed to completely disregard the rest-as if Noni _dared_ to mention that he could produce glowing balls of light out of his palms!

"Well, you know, I haven't been by to see Grimm in a while, girl. Maybe I should _stop by_ later this evening…bring him a little treat."

"Yeah, you do that, trick!" Noni said, eyeballing him with a cocked brow. They both burst out laughing knowing full well why Miss Nosy Terrance really wanted to pay 'Grimm' a visit later that day. Noni didn't mind. Something in the way Loki had grasped her shoulders had told her that he wouldn't be interested in Terrance anyway.

She finished her day's work and took some patterns with her to work on at home. Then to the library she went, hoping to find any information about Asgard.

Her search proved fruitless because as it turned out, the library was closed for renovations, so home she went. When she got there it was dead silent. Normally, Grimm would nearly run her over when she got home. She walked through the living room and into the kitchen. Nothing. She glanced out into the back yard and he wasn't there either. Quietly, she ascended the stairs and peeked in Loki's room. There was Grimm, and Loki as well, laying across the bed asleep. Noni couldn't help but smile at the sight.

She left them there and turned up the heat in the house. Then, she went into her office, threw on a pair of headphones and began to work on a new dress. It was around five o'clock PM when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Christ!"

She jumped so high she knocked over her mannequin and stumbled over a basket of thread on the floor. In a swift motion, Loki swooped her into one arm while grabbing the dummy with the other.

"Good evening, madame," Loki said with a smug grin. His body was shaking against her as he suppressed a chuckle.

"That is not funny. I'm going to have to put a bell around your neck or something. You're too stealthy."

She gave in and grinned as well—and made no attempt to get up, nor did he make an attempt to release her. It was only when the doorbell rang but a moment later did they untangle themselves.

"I'd better get that…," she said as she got up and moved past him, still grinning. He watched her leave, then turned his attention, for the first time, to the room he was standing in. All over the walls were vibrant pieces of fabric and drawings of tall, slender women wearing a variety of garments. The mannequin before him was adorned in a gorgeous emerald-green garment of some sort. He had watched Noni attaching bits of fabric to it as he entered.

From the living room, he could hear a woman's raucous voice—but it wasn't Noni's. Curious, he ventured down the hall towards the living room. To his surprise, it wasn't a female's voice he heard, but that of a brightly adorned, highly effeminate-looking man. Loki looked incredulous. He had heard of men such as these back in Asgard though he had not himself encountered any.

"Good…day," was all he could muster up to say.

"Hell yes it is," Terrence replied, lowering his shades as to ogle more efficiently.

Loki was amused. '_How fitting that on this measly stretch of land I should be admired by its women _and_ men,'_ he thought. But then he realized that Noni, the only Midgardian female he has met thus far hadn't actually openly _expressed_ such thoughts of admiration. Sure she gawked at his bare chest, once, but that was most likely because he _was_ bare-chested in her home, a complete stranger to her. He began to worry and it showed on his face.

Noni noticed.

"Loki, are you alright?" She asked, glancing over at Terrance. She knew he could be a bit much at times. "I'm fine…I-should go." He paced toward the door, this long legs crossing the room in a matter of seconds.

Terrance looked offended. "Well damn, you're acting a little_ suspicious_. Do I make you _that_ uncomfortable? Hmmmm,_ interesting_."

"Terry, I'm sure he didn't mean it like that," Noni chimed in as she got up and followed behind Loki.

"Loki, wait," she grabbed his arm as he stepped over the threshold outside. Loki who apparently didn't hear a word Noni's friend had said stopped cold in his tracks and was staring, wide-eyed into the snow-covered yard before him.

"Loki-"

"Snow? It snows here? I does not snow in Asgard. The land is forever warm...snow is saved for the _deathly pit_ of Jötunheim where I…where the Frost Giants live," he looked at her then, his brows knitted together in an unreadable expression and his lips pressed into a hard line.

She was still gripping his forearm, gently. Snowflakes were falling softly into her head full of curls as she gazed at Loki, saddened—not only because she felt bad for him, but because she really didn't want him to leave. Not yet. She felt lonely there in those mountains, living alone. Sure Grimm was great company. But Grimm was a dog.

Loki noticed the way the snow looked against her hair and on the tips of her long lashes. Beautiful. His expression. softened and he turned to her, dusting a thumb over her glowing cheek.

Terrence who had stood up and was about to give Loki a piece of his mind watched the exchange. He could see how Loki was looking at his best friend that he wasn't gay. Damn it.

"Do you want me here?" Loki inquired, his eyes giving away his desire for the _right_ answer.

"Of course," Noni replied.

"But you don't know me."

"You don't know _me_ either."

"But you are human…mortal"

"So what?"

"So…" he didn't have an answer…at least not one that wouldn't come across as offensive. And what did it really matter anyway, that she was of an 'inferior' race? He was an inferior son, and of an inferior race himself; a Frost Giant; a _monster_. He had gotten the answer that he wanted though. He didn't have anywhere else to go, and he wouldn't rather be anywhere else, either. "...I want to stay…" he said finally, relief spreading across his features.

Across the lawn, from the second story of the neighboring house's window, Danny Kent glared down on the two.


	6. Trifles!

"What's a Frost Giant?" Noni asked after Terrence had left. She was looking down at a Chinese delivery menu on the counter in the kitchen. It would take forever for them to come way out here, but she didn't feel like cooking.

Loki sat near at the kitchen table, watching the snow fall into the yard from the sliding glass back door. "A monster race; an enemy of Asgard. I will not discuss that right now."

She dropped the subject out of courtesy.

"Well, are you hungry?"

"No, thank you."

"You know, if you keep beating yourself up about the past, it won't stop bothering you."

"And what do you know of such things? What hardships in your tiny mortal life have you ever had to encounter? A broken power line? Melting ice cream? Trifles."

Noni turned on her heel.

"Excuse me? You actually dare to insult me in my house? Just what the hell is your problem? First you tried to strangle my dog, something I could have easily killed you for, especially considering your state of weakness out on the curb. Then you insult me again when you wake up from your mini-coma, and now this? You know, your mood swings are really starting to become a problem. I can easily be a bitch and tell you to get the fuck out. So as long as you're in my house, you need to learn to watch your mouth. Prince or not. You don't insult someone who is trying to—"

She was cut off by lips pressed hard against hers and strong hands tight around her shoulders as Loki sprung suddenly from his seat and moved quickly towards. Then as abruptly as they came, they were both gone.

She stumbled forward and panted slightly from the sudden loss of breath and leered, shocked, at Loki who was also breathing heavily. He looked as if he was about to say something, but then he simply walked away. There was the sound of footsteps up the stairs, the thud of a closing door, then silence. After that exchange, Noni needed to cool down. She popped open the freezer and went for the Neapolitan.

To her chagrin, all the chocolate part was gone.


	7. Granny Smith Apples

When Loki arose the next day, Noni was nowhere in the house. He worried about the state he had left her in the kitchen the night before, but put it out of his mind. Surely she would not be able to resist him after that, he thought. He grinned to himself as he left the bathroom.

He decided to venture out into the world for a bit of sight-seeing, and since Midgard was the mortal realm and he had already caused enough attention to himself with the power line incident, he thought it best to keep a low profile and go out on foot. As he closed the front door behind him, SMACK! He collided with Noni yet again. This time he grabbed her hand and pulled her into his chest before she toppled backwards down the front porch stairs.

Mail flew everywhere.

"You know, you really ought to look where you're going…" she said.

"Well perhaps if you were not so petite, it would not be so hard to see you," he was still holding her close.

"I have big hair, it's hard to miss…"

"This is true," Loki bent his head down and took in a deep whiff of her cocoa locks.

"Um…are you sniffing me?"

"Is there something wrong with sniffing my hostess?" He devilishly grinned down at her.

She looked up at him, cleared her throat and wriggled free from his grasp, something that Loki took as rejection. His smile faded as he bent down to pick up her letters.

"I apologize, I will try to be more careful next time."

Noni clenched her teeth and then was about to say something, but then thought better of it. She scratched her temple, cleared her throat again, and said "It's okay, you are pretty tall-are you going somewhere?" she added quickly before she started to ramble.

"I was just on my way to…I don't know where exactly. I just wanted to see _something_ other than the inside of your home-It is a very nice home, but I wanted to go somewhere _else_ today."

"Oh, well that's cool. Do you want to go with me downtown? It's about forty-five minute drive from here and I made sure to book a cab for today. My car is still in the shop. I'm going o get it today, it should be ready."

Loki cocked an unsure eyebrow, understanding only 'do you want to go with me'. The rest was Midgardian gibberish. "Yes. Yes, I'd like that."

A slight grin returned, hiding the fact that his pride was still hurt over being rejected.

"Great!" She smiled brightly, something that Loki came to be very fond of. He smiled widely as well, his spirits having returned even more.

"The cab should be here in—BEEEEEEP!—Well, now! Let's go." Noni walked down the path of her front yard and out the small brown gate and Loki followed, getting into the back seat of the strange, yellow box behind her and closing the door. The cab leaned a bit to the side Loki was sitting on making the cab driver cock an eyebrow into the rear-view mirror. But he said nothing and drove away.

During the ride, Loki listened as Noni pointed out various landmarks and locations. He was impressed that the mortal realm had such a deep history, and this was only one part of it. The mountains and trees lay covered in a blanket of dense white snow and the sky was just as equally white and clear. He looked out the window mountainside, dotted with white and red and green dwellings here and there, and the deep-blue body of water that ran beneath the mass of trees.

He sat with his legs spread wide though the back seat had plenty of room for them. His knees were almost touching Noni's, which were squeezed together; as she tried to avoid bodily contact as she still felt a bit awkward about the earlier exchange; not to mention the events that took place just the night before.

About 45 minutes later, the cab came to a halt on a street lined with various shops, restaurants and cafés. After instructing Loki how to open the cab door, shooting the driver a quick "He's…foreign," and getting out, the duo made their way to their first stop, the super market. Noni didn't bother paying the driver. She had paid his company the day before with her credit card over the phone.

They made their way through the produce department where Loki lingered in front of some Granny Smith apples. Noni had disappeared down another isle. He took a bite. It was tart yet tasty. He grabbed another and slipped it into the pocket of his black overcoat and was just about to take another bite before a round bellied shelf-stocker stopped him. He was almost as tall as Loki, and about two Loki's-wide.

"Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to put that back and pay for what you ate. Then you can leave the store before I call the authorities," the large man said.

Loki cocked his head to the side and furrowed his brow. "Are you talking to me?"

"Yeah, I am. I don't see any other thieves here at the moment." The stocker puffed out his chest, his rotund belly _dangerously_ close to the god of mischief's body.

Loki glanced down at it with a disgusted scowl before he leered at the man and said, "You dare threaten me, with that insatiable, gelatinous breadbasket you call a gut?" Loki closed the small gap between he and the man and leaned forward so that his ice-cold breath blew against the man's face with every word he spoke next. "I harbor no qualms about trimming your fat, mortal. A swift slice down the middle, and you would be a much needed pound or two lighter since that is where you obviously carry all your rot. If you ever in your miserable existence even think to speak that way to me again, I shall murder you upon the ground you stand, serve your head on a pike and use your empty carcass as a chariot."

He slowly brought the apple up to his mouth and took a bite, his eyes flashing crimson. The poor, sweaty man who had been standing there, shivering, passed out cold. Loki looked at his flabby form on the ground and grinned, stepping over it. He curiously went to find out where Noni had disappeared to, as he finished his apple.

* * *

Needless to say that after the trickster persuaded Noni to leave the market before him and wait outside while he 'took care' of the groceries, he also 'persuaded' the clerk to give him her groceries free of charge. He carried all the bags for her and they proceeded to the next location; the auto repair shop.

That visit went without incident, luckily, though Loki thought himself permanently scarred by witnessing another rotund mortal—an extremely greasy and dirty one—bend over and reveal a bit of cleavage of the _undesirable_ sort.

After that they walked around a bit, taking in the sights of children playing in the park and the sounds of a live band performing in the Town Square. This mortal city was charming, Loki admitted to himself. The women weren't all that bad-looking and there were even a few very pretty tall ones. But the one that had his eye was the beautiful short one at his side.

Then the smell of her hair hit him in the face like a ton of bricks. But it was much, _much_ stronger this time. They were standing in front of a chocolatier store but he hadn't noticed that. He just stopped and stared at her, desire overcoming his expressions.

"You smell like chocolate," he said, with a certain_ look_ in his eye.

"Oh, that's not me. Well, it is me, my conditioner has cocoa powder in it. But we're in front of a chocolate…shop," Loki was slowly beginning to lean closer and closer, but came to his senses when he noticed her backing away.

There went that rejection again.

This time, he didn't really stop to frown because he wanted chocolate, of the mortal variety…and of the food variety! And by the looks of it, this chamber presented many tasty treats to choose from.

A half hour later they left the store with three gift bags full of assorted chocolates; chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate covered nuts, chocolate covered chocolate and anything else you can possibly imagine—all for free.


	8. Just a Taste

The kitchen smelled wonderful that evening. Noni was grateful to Loki for 'buying' her groceries—she knew he didn't, but she never claimed to be the _pinnacle of morality._ Free groceries in _this_ economy; who could beat that? And she didn't mind being spoiled—but she was starting to wonder about how he had gotten away with it...

She stood at the stove plating the pasta and mussels she had prepared for dinner as she mentally devised a way to find out more about him without prying too much. She was someone who knew very well that a mussel wouldn't open up until it was ready to; and though Loki was exceedingly mysterious, and even admitted not being from her 'world,' there was an alluring sadness behind his eyes that pulled her in and made her want to take care of him—like she had been taken care of all those years ago. She took his sudden arrival as a sign that now was her turn to 'pay-it-forward' and help another lost soul in need, just as she was helped.

Loki, who was on a sugar high from eating an entire box of chocolate turtles, was telling her a funny story from his seat at the table. He still had a piece of chocolate in his hand when she brought the plates over. "So then Heimdal went cross-eyed for three days! It took father's servants four to find all the copies I made of myself," he finished the morsel in his hand just as Noni set down the plate before him and chuckled.

"Mmm, that smells stunning. What do you call this dish?" he asked, rubbing his hands together, eager to dig in.

"Oh, it's just pasta with butter sauce, tomatoes and mussels. The red things are the tomatoes. The black things are the mussels, you take them out of their shell and eat 'em. The long stuff is the pasta," she said, twirling pasta around her fork before taking a bite.

Loki watched carefully and mimicked her, twirling his pasta slowly around his fork and inserting it into his mouth. He sucked in the few dangling strands, chewed, swallowed, and smiled.

"Another glorious feast, madame," he said as he tipped his glass of Port against his lips and took a swig.

"Well I do live alone and I don't want to starve! And since the closest delivery restaurant is forty minutes away, I figured my best option was to learn to cook for myself…and you've got a bit of sauce on your face," she gestured with her fork.

Loki picked up his napkin and went to wipe the spot it looked like she was pointing to.

"No, it's right…here, come here for a sec," she picked up her own napkin and beckoned him closer with her hand.

He hesitated…a god does not need a personal face wiper; he can handle such matters himself! But then again, it _would_ give him an excuse to get closer. He leaned in. Noni dabbed her napkin at the spot gently, her left hand holding his chin while she cleaned his face. She tilted her head to the side slightly, letting her thumb glide absently across his smooth flesh while she gazed fondly at him. Then she seemed to come to her senses because she clear her throat, released him, and sat back in her chair. "All clean," she said with a cheery smile.

Loki grinned, smugly. "You have yet to tell me much about yourself, Noni. Why is that?"

Noni's slight smile faltered slightly, but Loki didn't catch it because he had taken another swig of his wine. Noni inhaled and smiled brightly again, also taking a big gulp of wine, stalling for an excuse. She leaned forward and placed her hands over each other on the table.

"You haven't told me anything about yourself _either_. And this _is_ my house. So start talking," she demanded, jokingly feigning a bossy attitude. That seemed the best way to go about finding out what she wanted to know.

"What do you wish to know?" he asked, crossing his arms and leaning on the table.

"Where is Asgard?"

"Asgard is one the nine worlds of this universe—where I…come from. The others are Midgard, your world; the realm of the mortals. Alfheim; home of the Light Elves; Hel; the realm of the dead, Nidavellir; where the Dwarves live, Swartalfheim; land of the Dark Elves, Vanaheim; home of the, Vanir; the Future-Seers, and Jötunheim; the land of the Frost Giants." Loki stopped there.

The look on Noni's face was one of sheer bewilderment and amazement; all this was going on in the universe around her and she all the other people on Earth, were _oblivious_ to it-but then Loki added that people Midgard had for centuries worshiped the Asgardians as gods. She had a not only a Prince in her house—but a god? That would explain his amazing powers of persuasion.

Suddenly she felt the need to take a cool shower to get her mind clear from what she'd just been told.

Elves? Dwarves? Land of the dead? Could it be that the stories she'd come across as a kid were true and that these creatures _actually_ existed? She had so many more questions to ask, but mentally she wasn't quite certain she was ready for the answers all at once!

After dinner, Loki insisted on cleaning the dishes while Noni went upstairs to shower. Before she did, she made sure to warn Loki not to feed chocolate to Grimm because it was poisonous to dogs. He washed the dishes with _sorcery_, of course. A god does not clean with his _hands_.

Then, he sat on the sofa in the living room, his shoeless feet kicked up onto the coffee table with a lap full of chocolate kisses. Grimm whimpered at his feet, desperately wanting a bite of something.

"No, friend. You are not allowed…but _I_ am," he teased, popping another into his mouth and petting Grimm's head as Noni came down the stairs.

"You know, you're going to get sick if you keep eating those sweets," she said, feeling slightly better.

Okay, so there were magical creatures on other planets. She'd always figured humans weren't alone in the universe, now she had her proof. As far as she was concerned, Loki was still a guest in her house who still had _nowhere_ to go. That was what mattered the most.

She sat in her favorite arm chair by the end table with the lamp across from the couch and kicked her feet up under her bottom.

"_Nonsense;_ I am a god. Gods do not _get_ sick."

Must be nice, she thought, though her reply was, "Alright, if you say so."

"Would you like one?" he asked, holding the bag of chocolatey sweets in her direction.

"Oh, no…I'm feeling kinda full from dinner."

"Come on, just try one. You haven't eaten any yet and I am afraid they won't last long at _this_ rate. Don't let me have all the fun! I'll feel bad! Probably not, but still. Here, I've got just the thing." He sprung from the couch and disappeared into the kitchen, reappearing after a bit of shuffling around items in the fridge. "Taste one. They're called 'chocolate covered strawberries.' They're red. I know how much you like that color. All your kitchen gadgets are red."

She felt flattered that he'd been paying that much attention to her. She smiled at his thoughtfulness, but still refused. "I don't know, it's late. I don't usually eat sweets this late."

"I shall _not_ take no for an answer." His gaze intensified as he grinned impishly.

"Just one…I will pick out the best one and you can have it." He moved to kneel beside her in the arm-chair and opened the box of strawberries to her. They were fat and dipped in deep chocolate with white chocolate drizzled over them. Noni had to admit, they looked pretty tasty.

Loki pulled out the fattest one by the stem.

"Just a taste. I promise," he said.

She gave in with a sigh. "Fine, but just one"

He grinned and brought it slowly towards her mouth which began to open up for the decadent fruit. She took a bite. Instantly, her mouth filled with a mixture of sour and sweet from the fruit and bittersweet from the chocolate. Loki watched her face carefully. She licked her lips to catch a dribble of strawberry juice that had tried to escape past her mouth. Loki's eyes widened and his pulse began to quicken, sending jolts of lust straight to his groin.

"Delicious," he growled, seduction heavy in his voice. But it wasn't clear which chocolate delight he was referring to. He held her gaze, leaning into her, his lips yearning to touch hers.

Noni's eyes locked on his. He was right; it was _scrumptious_. She leaned in closer, wanting another taste…


	9. Flashing Lights

A loud, frantic knock at the door interrupted them. "Noni, NONI! PLEASE, COME QUICK! IT'S JAKE! OH GOD…PLEASE DON'T DO THIS TO ME! CALL AN AMBULANCE!"

Noni jumped from her chair and ran for the door, Loki only a few paces behind. She reached the door, threw it open and ran barefoot outside; on the ghost-white snow, illuminated by the light of the full moon, lay fourteen-year-old Jake, surrounded by a pool of his own blood.

By the time the ambulance arrived, Jake was dead.

Loki stood, leaned against the banister of the neighboring porch in silence while Noni comforted a weeping Danny on the steps. His father had carried the boy into the house, hoping that the warmth would bring him a sense of comfort.

It didn't.

The boy sputtered and shivered grotesquely as the open claw marks on his neck moved like gills and never stopped bleeding. He had been mauled by a black bear while on his skateboard just half a mile down the road, coming from a friend's house after playing video games.

Saturday night.

Two days before his fifteenth birthday.

Noni had always heard of the wild animals that frequented people's back yards way out here in the Catskills-black bears, foxes, badgers, bobcats, deer-she just never _expected_ something like that to happen so close to her home. Especially not _this._

Danny started another bout of tears against Noni's shoulder as she cooed him to silence with "It will be alright's" and "you will make it through this's". He clung like a child to her coat while she swayed with him in her arms, overhearing the words "Okay, boys. Let's take him out," from the EMTs

Loki felt awkward, like he was imposing on someone else's tragedy. He had never—ever—given thought to the idea of having a child, until now; the uncertainty that they would live and be safe; the chance that they could die at any given time; what if he had two? What if one thought they were loved less…than the other? Why would anyone want to put themselves through that? These thoughts made him extremely uncomfortable, so he banished them from his mind. He ran a hand through his hair as he watched the EMTs load the corpse of the boy onto the gurney, shawled in black, and carted him to the blinking box. He thought to himself that it was an odd way of honoring the dead...

"I'm going with them." Danny said shakily as he stood up from the step.

"I'll come with you," Noni added as she stood up to and rubbed his back comfortingly.

Loki watched them in silence, his face unreadable as Noni said "I will be back, Loki. Will you be okay here alone for a while?"

"Of course," he responded. "Do what you must," he added an assuring nod and a slight smile as he stepped down from the stairs behind them and made his way back to Noni's house, offering no words of condolence to Danny. He didn't know what to say in the situation, so he thought it best to remain silent. He looked again over his shoulder as the ambulance drove away, catching a glimpse of the two in the back window of the ambulance.

They were holding each other.

He looked away and went back into the house, stepped in, and closed the door behind him, reassuring himself that it was because of the tragedy. Noni was a kindhearted soul. It was in her nature to comfort-doesn't mean he had to like it.

Immediately, his ears were assaulted with a low, miserable whimper. He turned around from the door and his face turned a ghostly white at what he saw. Grimm had eaten the chocolate kisses and was laying on his side in a puddle of vomit! Loki's face was a mixture of shock and guilt: "Oh...shit..."

Meanwhile, the ride to the hospital was a silent one, and understandably so. What was really there to say at a time this? Danny reached over and clasped Noni's hand, to which she did not protest. She too had a silent river a tears streaming down her cheeks, recalling in her mind meeting Jake the day she moved in...

* * *

_It was summer and she had just been lucky enough to find a three bedroom house for rent within her budget. The only downside was that it was a forty-five minute drive outside the city, so she would have to commute to work. That didn't matter though, her hours were flexible and the house was super cute. It was a two-story, pale blue, disjointed townhouse overlooking a hill of trees in the backyard. The hill descended steepli into a valley where in between ran a river that washed out into the bay, and then to the Atlantic ocean. If she looked out of her back bedroom window, or the guest room window in the mornings, she could see the sun hitting the cliffs on the opposite side and shimmering off the velvety blue waves. The two houses, 11a and 11b shared a front yard, a backyard, and the mid-height brown fence that surrounded the two._

_Danny had been playing catch with a his then, twelve-year-old-son, Jake when the moving truck pull up. _

_"Hey dad, we're getting new neighbors!" Jake said as he caught the ball and turned around._

_"Yeah, I see. That's a good think, right?" _

_"It's great! I wonder if they have kids my age?" _

_There was the sound of door opening, and a yapping, puppy-sized Grimm hopped from the passenger's lap, ran under the truck and sprang through the open fence into the yard. His little legs carried him all the way to a surprised and excited Jake._

_"Look dad, it's so cute! We should totally get a dog!" Jake said as he dropped to a knee and started petting the puppy._

_"Ugh, Grimm!" Out popped a petite Noni who had her hair in a high bun. She walked through the gate to fetch her busy-body puppy who was dealing Jake a barrage of kisses to the face._

_Danny's eyes hadn't left Noni's form since he saw her get out of the truck. "Yes she is…" he said under his breath. She made eye contact with him; only then did his gaze falter and he suddenly realized he was staring._

_"I'm so sorry about that! Grimm's a people-puppy. I guess that makes sense since he's a Leo. He's got a bad habit of running into the street though. I'm Noni James, the new tenant in 11b," she smiled cheerily and held out her hand to shake Danny's. _

_That smile, he thought as he returned the same gesture…her hands were soft._

_"Uh…" he'd forgotten his name for a moment. "Daniel…Danny, my name's Danny. Well, it's Daniel, but everybody calls me Danny. Danny Kent, nice ta meet ya," he said, and the first thing Noni noticed aside from his piercing blue eyes was Danny's heavy 'New Yor'ka' accent. He retracted his hand that had shaken hers through that entire explanation, cleared his throat, and crossed his arms. "So you need some help movin' in?"_

_"Are you sure? I mean, I'd hate to ask..."_

_"You don't gotta. I offered. It's no problem, honest."_

_"Thanks, that would be great," she smiled again. People up in the Catskills were much friendlier than the city, she thought. She turned to Jake and said, "Hi, what's your name?"_

_Jake stood up from playing with Grimm and took Noni's outstretched hand. _

_"Hello, I'm Jake. I like your dog," he smiled. His accent wasn't nearly as thick as his fathers but his eyes were the same shade of piercing baby-blue._

_"Well Jake, since we'll be neighbors, you can play with him anytime." _

_"Really?" Jake's eyes lit up. "Thanks!"_

_"Not a problem," she responded._

_"Ma'am, would you open the door so's we can set this stuff inside?" One of the movers who was holding her over-sized, dark red arm-chair asked. _

_"Yes, sorry! Be right back," she threw over her shoulder as she jogged over to her porch and up the front steps._

_Danny's eyes were glued to her hips as they swayed with each step she took. _

_That ass, he thought. _

_"Gees dad, get a grip," Jake said, holding a spoiled Grimm in his arms while eyeballing his father with a cocked eyebrow and a grin. Danny came to his senses for a second time._

_"What?"_

_"Yeah, yeah. Play that card." _

_"Pft, you're twelve. Shaddap," Danny said, ruffling his son's hair _

_"Play that card too," he said sarcastically._

_"Get outta here, kid. Don't you got homework?" _

_"It's Sunday,"_

_"Excuses, excuses. Well hey, you watch the dog and make sure he don't run in to the street or get ran over by the movers, kay kiddo?" _

_"Yeah dad." Jake resumed playing with the puppy. He tried to play fetch with Grimm but Grimm couldn't fit the big ball into his tiny jaws, so he just sat and licked it instead._

_It was around five PM when they'd finished moving Noni's stuff in. After her furniture was all moved in, the three sat on the front porch of her house and had lemonade. _

_"So where ya movin' from?" Danny asked._

_"I was living with a roommate for about a year downtown." _

_"Wow, a year and I haven't met you before now? That's crazy" _

_"Yeah, I'll say," Jake mumbled. Danny kneed his son in the shoulder and cleared his throat. "Jake, you ougtta be gettin' ta that homework we talked about, right?"_

_"But dad—" _

_"Jake!"_

_"Ugh…fine. I'll go…"_

_"Atta boy." _

_Jake sighed. "Later Miss James. Bye Grimm," he said as he reached down to pat the sleeping pup's head._

_Noni had been chuckling at the exchange. It was nice to see a father and son with such a good relationship. "Just call me Noni, Jake. I'm not that old! It was nice meeting you." _

_"You too," he smiled as he walked off the porch to his own house._

_"He's a great kid," Noni said._

_"Yeah…I'm a lucky guy."_

_"So where's his mom?" She asked, just to make conversation. "If, you don't mind my asking that is." _

_"It's no problem. Uh…she's in California—hey, where'd you live before that?" _

_"I moved from Queens." _

_"Oh yeah? I'm from Brooklyn. Bed-Stuy. Lived there all my life until Jake was born. Then it got too expensive to live and my wife—Jenna and me—we moved out here. Then she up and left for some small time, low-budget movie producer from Cali before he was two, so now it's just us. She actually met that asshole on a dating website. I shoulda known something was up when she told me she had ta go to California for some cousin's funeral. 'Scuse me for sayin' it, but what kinda bitch just abandons her kid like that?" It had been a while before he was able to open up so quickly like that before. Most of the girls he talked to were off the bat only interested in his biceps, his motorcycle, and his money; Not his son._

_Noni frowned. She knew what it was like to be raised by a single parent. But at least that Jake's single parent wasn't a junkie, she thought, but kept that to herself._

_"I was raised by just my mom. My dad died when I was four. I don't remember him much," was all she said in response. _

_Danny looked at her, not liking the somber appearance of her have as she spoke those words, so he changed the subject._

_"Hey, you wanna come over for dinner tomorrow night? I'm makin' Italian; my grandma's recipe."_

_Noni was relieved at the change of the subject. Her countenance brightened into a smile. _

_"That sounds great!" _

_Score, Danny thought. He stared at her, openly this time, his blue eyes scanning briefly over her breasts then back up to her face, but Noni wasn't sure she saw him do it._

_Danny was anything but shy around women. He'd known quite a few in town..._

_Noni glanced around at the yard, his eyes presenting too much intensity for her at the moment. "Well, it's getting late and I have some work to do. I'll see you tomorrow. And thanks for all your help." She stood up, retrieving the empty red plastic cups from the top stair. _

_"It was nice to meet you too," he said, not noticing her sudden desire to flee the conversation. "See you tomorrow, Noni" He grinned and turned to walk away. Grimm woke up, hearing footsteps descend the stairs, and yawned._

_"Come here, sleepyhead." Noni picked up the tiny puppy, went back into her new home, and locked the door behind her._

* * *

_"My God, this is amazing! Where'd you learn to cook like this?" Noni ask, sticking another forkful of Pasta ala Norma into her mouth. She was at Danny and Jake's for dinner, as promised. _

_"My grandma. She was straight from Sicily, off the boat any everything. Same with my grandpa. He was Irish," Danny said._

_"Yeah, he used to try to put whiskey in all Nana's food!" Jake chimed in._

_"Where are they now?" Noni asked._

_"They passed away," Jake said, a bit of sadness detectable in his voice._

_"Yeah, they raised me. My parents died in a car accident when I was in high school," said Danny._

_"I'm sorry," Noni said._

_"Thanks. The only real tragedy is they never got a chance to meet this guy over here!" He ruffled his son's hair. Jake's running for class president. He's a good kid." _

_"I only pretend to be good. What I really want is world domination!" Jake joked. There was laughter around the table._

* * *

_"So what about you? What's your life's story?" Danny asked one evening as he and Noni were downtown for coffee. _

_He had gotten off work early and ran into her when she was leaving work herself. Over the months that she'd lived in her new home, Noni came to adore his son Jake. He came over almost every afternoon to play with Grimm—and for the cupcakes she sometimes baked him. She and Danny talked as well, but she still avoided opening up about her past. "I…I mean, I'm not that interesting. I just make clothes really."_

_"Oh come on. A pretty girl like you just up and leaves the city for this place? I mean, we might as well be living in the wilderness! I'm sure the guys back home miss you a lot," he flirted, his hand brushing purposely over hers as he went to pick up his coffee mug from the small, circular café table. Noni retracted her own hand reflexively. _

_"I doubt it…" she said, taking a sip of her mocha latte. _

_"Please, tell me? I've known you six months and all I know about you is that you're beautiful, smart, creative, and from Queens. That's no fair. I told ya how much of a knuckle-head I used to be as a kid! Hell, I even told ya about that...car I stole at seventeen," He leaned in, feigning secrecy as he looked over his shoulder, then smiled and winked._

_Noni laughed. "I doubt the Feds remember that one." _

_That comment gained a chortle from Danny. "Come on…what's the worst you could say?" _

_Noni's smile faded. "You'd be surprised…" she said earnestly. _

_Danny turned serious. "Noni, I care about you. I wouldn't judge you, you should know that by now with all the shit I've told you about myself," and all the shit you didn't, she thought. _

_She had to find out from 'Miss' Terrance about Danny's track record in town—and she hadn't even asked for the info._

_"Oooh, someone's got an admirer," he'd said one day when Danny, who happened to be passing by the design studio where she worked, stopped and tapped on the glass to wave to her. _

_"He's just my neighbor. He's very polite," Noni said, defensively._

_"Guuurl, be careful with that one. Them sweet baby-blues are the eyes of the devil!"_

_Noni burst out laughing. "Why do you say that?"_

_"Cause it's true! And because I overheard Dominique over at the bakery on Main talking about him one day after he left with his son. She said he's been all up and through almost every piece of fish in this damn town—much to my annoyance. You know I love me some blue-eyed mens, honey." _

_Noni chuckled again."You are too much, Terry. Don't tell me you actually believe what that nosey ass drama queen says. Dominique talks so much shit about all the guys around here! She was probably mad after he rejected her or something. I really don't understand how she thinks she can get a man with that obviously bleached-blonde hair and that orange ass tan. I guess if she found a guy that was interested in dating a jar of Tang…"_

_"Oh no you didn't, you shady heffa!" Terrance snapped his fingers at her and laughed._

_"Hey, I'm just sayin'." _

_"All right now miss thang, all I'm _'just sayin'_ is donchu bring me no grandbabies up in here. I'm too young and _fabulous_ fa that. And so are you!" _

_"Oh please, It's not even like that! I just live next to the guy!" _

_"Mmmm-hm. How long has it been since you got you some?" _

_There was a pause in dialogue. _

_"Shouldn't you be working?" Noni blushed over an embarrassed smile and shoved her headphones in her ears. She jumped and giggled as Terrence pinched her side, sticking his tongue at her over his shoulder as he walked past._

_She was forever greatful to Terrance for taking her in one and a half years prior… _

_"Noni...Noni? You alright?" _

_"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry," she had recovered after a brief space-out moment, back in front of Danny in the café._

_"Don't worry about it. I brain fart too sometimes." They laughed until Danny paused, still waiting for her to tell him her 'life story'_

_Okay, Noni thought. She could talk to Danny. He was supportive and polite. He had a great, well-mannered kid… "Well, I used to be a dancer." _

_"Oh yeah? That's awesome, you've definitely got the body for it. So what was it like ballet or something?"_

_"Uh, no…more like..." she glanced around, "…exotic." _

_Danny's jaw dropped slightly._

_He was suddenly mentally assaulted (in a good way) of visions of Noni swinging those candy-dipped hips around a long silver pole. A stripper, he thought. He felt a twinge in his cock. _

_"I see," was all he managed to get out, recovering from his own brain fart._

_Noni felt embarrassed._

_She suddenly regretted her decision to talk about her history. People would always be judgmental of her past, she thought. She felt the urge to make a mad dash for the door, until Danny added, "I thought about getting in ta that once. Ladies seem ta dig guys who know how to move their…bodies," he smiled at her, then they both chuckled. Noni felt better after that._

_She sighed in relief; that was enough for him to know a bit about her without getting into too many of the…ugly details._

_That evening, Jake had come over to her house because she promised she'd bake his favorite; chocolate chip cupcakes with peanut butter cups in the middle and fudge frosting._

_"Hey, Noni," he said, sitting at the kitchen table with Grimm not trailing far behind. The two had become damn near inseparable. _

_"Hey Jake, they're almost ready. Just gotta let 'em cool so we can frost," she smiled at him over her shoulder._

_Jake smiled back, then thought for a moment._

_"I like you, Noni. You're super nice. Much nicer than those _'ladies'_ my dad hangs around with."_

_Noni felt a jolt in her stomach at that last sentence. Had big-mouthed Dominique actually been right about Danny after all? That was disappointing, she thought. She'd begun to think a lot of him..._

_"Aww, Jake. You're too sweet."_

_"No, I really mean it...if I had a mom, I'd want her to be just like you."_

* * *

The ambulance pulled to a gentle halt at the emergency side of the hospital, interrupting Noni's mental flashback. She looked at the black bag strapped to the gurney in front of her, feeling heavy with sadness. She squeezed Danny's hand.

"You ready?" she asked Danny with gentle squeeze of his hand.

"Yeah," he replied. "Ready as I'll ever be."


	10. Mocha V

Danny rested his forearms against his thighs with his head hung low. This branch of the hospital was silent, save for the occasional sound of his tears splashing against the gray linoleum flooring.

Noni started to think back on her past as she listened to the pitter-patter of Danny's tears hitting the ground about everything that led her up to this point. It seemed to her that tragedy always had a way of affecting her. Noni had a petite hand rested against Danny's back as she reclined her head against the wall and closed her eyes and drifted into thought…

* * *

_Two girls sat down on the stoop of a shabby brownstone in Jamaica, Queens. _

_That summer was particularly hot and humid and the public pool at the YMCA was closed for renovations. The older girl kicked her feet under her bottom as she twisted the cap of her eighteen liter bottle of water and started to chug._

_"It's too damn hot!" The younger girl said. She was only younger by three months, but it looked as if she could be even younger when compared to the other girl, who was quite developed._

_"Oooh, damn you fine, shawty. Come'ere for a minute, lemme holla at you. You got a man?" a random guy had said to the older girl he was passing by with a group of other men."_

_"Are you kidding me?" Fourteen-year-old Noni James said as she sprung up from her seat, put a sassy hand on her hip and glared daggers at man who had spoken. _

_"If you don't want to be brought up on charges of sexual assault of a _minor_, I suggest you and your '_homies'_ keep it moving. My dad is a DEA agent, and he is very well connected. I'm fourteen. What kind of grown man tries to hit on a fourteen year old? Are you crazy or something?"_

_"Fourteen? Damn, my bad shawty. I didn't mean no harm," the men walked away, a couple shooting disgustingly lustful glances over their shoulder at her and biting their lips suggestively at her as they did._

_"Fucking pigs. I hate this place." Noni huffed as she sat back down._

_"Your daddy ain't no agent. Ain't he dead?" The other girl asked, ice cream melting down her hand as she had paused to watch the event._

_"Shut up, Shanice. He _was_ a cop when he was alive. Would you rather have had those bums feel you up? I had to say something to get them out of here." Noni rolled her eyes and took another drink of her water._

_"I donno know…da one wit the braids was kinda fine."_

_"You're so stupid. Those dudes looked like drug dealers. And they're grown men! Honestly, why do I hang out with you?"_

_"Because you too uppity fa ereybody else! You know I'm ya only friend. And the only reason I don't beat ya ass fa dat mouth is cuz you ma girl."_

_"The only reason you don't fight anyone is because you're skinny as a rail. And you have some nerve talkin' about my mouth. You know how many girls I've had to keep off your ass this year alone? Four. And that's including that fat Puerto Rican one Julissa; the one who carries the blade in her mouth and fights all the time."_

_"Pft, I'd beat that girl and ha mammie's ass…don't tell her I said that though."_

_"I Never do. Your mouth is gonna get you in trouble one day, you know. You'd better calm that shit down because I won't always be around to save your ass. And you're too smart to be talking like that! I don't know why you want everyone to think you're some dummy. I've seen your Pre-SAT scores."_

_"Okay, mother!"_

_"I might as well be your mother. Where is she anyway?"_

_"Same place yours is…"_

_They were both quiet after that._

_Shanice Alvarez—that was the other girl's name. She and Noni had been best friends since the first day they met. Both their mothers struck up a conversation one day when they went to collect their month's rations from the local Food Bank. They had been inseparable since then._

_Despite the fact that the two girls were so different from each other in looks and personality—Shanice was a tall and lanky girl with light skin, honey colored tresses and hazel eyes while Noni was about an inch shorter with an hourglass figure by age 12, had cocoa brown eyes, medium brown hair and matching brown curls; Shanice was a loudmouth and often got into fights Noni had to get her out of, while Noni was into her books and reserved—they got along so well because they both shared a similar struggle: both their mothers were drug addicts._

_School had been odd for the both of them because while all the boys fawned over Shanice and her hazel eyes, no one payed much attention to Noni. She didn't mind it, as she felt as though she was smarter than half the boys in that God forsaken excuse for a school. Almost every day after school, Shanice would follow Noni home from and they would eat together. Noni made a little money by babysitting the neighbor's three year old daughter so she was able to buy food for the house when her mother was nowhere to be found—which was more often than not. She had been taking care of herself since seven when her mom used to work double shifts at the local Laundromat; she was drug free back then. _

_Shanice hadn't been so lucky as to be able to fend for herself. She had a slight memory issue due to her mother's drug use when she was carrying her and often forgot what she was doing after she'd started it. There was an where she nearly burned her house down, trying to cook ramen. She rarely had food in her house which is what attributed to her thinness but boy, could that girl eat. Noni on the other hand didn't eat much as she was afraid of gaining anymore weight in her hips and anymore unwanted attention. The two were like sisters, becoming more alike and more different than they ever knew they'd be at that age. Their mothers were rarely home, they had no siblings and no close relatives around—Shanice's family on her mother's side were in the Dominican Republic, while she never knew her fathers side; Noni's had died before she was born save for her mother, who had no siblings either. _

_Another noticible fact about the two is that Shanice was now dead and Noni was not._

* * *

_After high school when Noni received a partial scholarship to NYU and Shanice, afraid of being alone, had stepped up her scholarly game and received a partial there too, the two now 18-year-olds found an apartment together in a better part of Queens. But much to their chagrin, the cost of living in New York was on a steady rise. _

_They did the thing that many a young woman in their situation, desperate for a better life and a decent education did—they became strippers._

_The club that they worked was called the Honey Dip Gentleman's Club. It was decent enough, in a not-so-bad part of Manhattan, and it was frequented by foreign tourists eager to find out what an American girl looked like with next to nothing on. The pay was pretty sweet considering all the girls needed to do was dance; that was the thing that won a skeptical Noni over in the end—that and Shanice's constant bantering of, "I can't do it without you! Please? I'll never ask you again for anything as long as I live! Come on girl, we'll be rollin' in that cash!" She just wanted to show off the fact that she had grown up, filled-out, and no one would call her a skinny 'crack-baby' anymore, Noni thought, though she didn't tell her that out loud._

_There was a strict no-touchy policy at the club, which Lester, the 6'3, 289 lb. bouncer efficiently enforced. He developed a fondness for Shanice who never made his job boring when she would tell-off a drunken customer who had slapped her ass or yelled obscinities at her while she danced. He started calling her Latina Heat from the first night she'd started working there and kicked a German customer in the chin with her bare foot when he had tried to grab it and suck on her toes. So was born her stage name—luckily, though, the perverts were rare._

_While working at Honey Dip, Noni developed a knack for designing her and Shanice's costumes when she had time between work and classes. They often made the other dancers jealous with their sequined brassieres and feathery thongs. It also got them more tips than the other girls. She sometimes wondered why she was paying all that money to study criminal justice when she could have just been a fashion designer—but then she remembered her father was a law enforcer. She didn't remember him, but from the things her mother told her about him when she was younger, she wouldn't mind being like him._

_One steely December night, a frequent high-roller graced the club with several well-dressed friends. They were looking for a few girls to dance at a New Year's Eve party—upstate; way upstate; about a five-and-a-half hour drive upstate. They had offered room and board and promised to bring he girls back safe and sound. One of the men, claiming to be the group's lawyer, had even brought a contract guaranteeing these things. Shanice was eager to attend since 'Mr. O'Connor' had more than once presented her with an upwards of five-hundred-dollar tip on any given night._

_"I don't know, Sha. How well do you know this guy?" Noni asked her best friend when she asked her to accompany her._

_"Oh come on, don't be such a prude, Mocha!" Shanice responded. She had started making a habit of calling her by her stage name at work. It was Mocha V—'V' standing for voluptuous, for obvious reasons. "He comes in here almost every other week when he's in town on business. You've seen the tips he's given us. He's cool people. He calls me his Latin Spitfire."_

_At that Noni chuckled and said "Oh please, you're only _half_ Dominican. And it's probably because he's seen the way you're always cursing out the customers and getting them tossed out. Better not let Lester catch you guys flirting. You know he's in love with you."_

_"I'm in love with a stripperrr!" Shanice joked. "The sign on the wall says don't touch the dancers, don't it? It ain't my fault these muhfuckas can't read."_

_Though Shanice had changed her lax ways in high school and made education a priority, she was still able to bring out the ghetto when she needed to. By this time it was the second semester of their sophomore year and their scholarships were running out. So, with a sigh, Noni gave in and agreed to go to the party._

* * *

"Mr. Kent, the doctor will see you now." A pretty nurse said as she approached Danny and Noni in the waiting room of the hospital.

Noni opened her eyes as he dragged himself off sickly green bench he was sitting on and followed behind the nurse, not even sparing her a glance. It was close to three in the morning and Noni needed to be at work in six hours for a presentation.

"Oh well," she thought. That would have to wait.

* * *

"Grimm, I forbid you to die!" A panicking Loki spat as he carried the weakly whimpering dog up the stairs and to Noni's bathroom.

The only way to keep the dog from dying was to get it out—manually. Loki shuddered at the thought of dog vomit getting anywhere near his being.

"I told you not to eat it, Grimm. You should have done what you were told—it is your own fault you are in this predicament! Oh please don't die! Noni shall never forgive me…" He upped the lid of the toilet, held the pathetic animal over it and squeezed.

Nothing happened...

Loki thought for a moment.

He took the dog under his arm, rushed out the bathroom, down the stairs and out the front door.

"Get ready for this."

Both his feet burst off the ground receiving an instant squeal from a surprised Grimm. They flew up past the trees, high enough to see a lighthouse on the rocks of the coast in the distance—and then spiraled like a rocket back toward the ground.

Needless to say, Loki received a shiny new coat—made entirely of chocolaty dog vomit.

"Absolutely _disgusting_," Loki said through a highly displeased grimace. What the hell was he doing, he thought. Gods do not _do_ such things!

Then he held the poor pooch at eye level and said, "If you were any other beast, I would have you drawn, quartered, and served to me with bread. You are lucky fair Noni is your master…don't look at me that way, I have no sympathy for you!"

Grimm began to cry, his tail between his legs. Loki sighed.

He put Grimm beneath his arm and walked back toward the house, petting his head gently.

"There, there, Grimm. I was only jesting about the bread bit…it would most likely be gravy." Loki went back into the house and shut the door behind him, grinning at his own obviously funny joke. He looked at the thing called a 'digital clock' in the corner of his room as he lay across his bed after a good scrub down and a change of clothes.

He had Grimm on the bed beside him to make sure he was recovering well—there had been another puddle of vomit on the wooden floor of the hallway as he'd exited the bathroom.

He closed his eyes, stroking Grimm's smooth black fur. His mind wandered to thoughts of his parents and his brother and he wondered how they were faring thinking him dead. Then he inwardly cursed them. They probably didn't even care. Thor was probably sitting his big, obnoxious self on the throne with his parents beaming with joy at his side.

The thought made Loki furious.

Aggravated and in need of relaxation, he teleported himself to the kitchen for the rest of his delightful chocolates. He opened the fridge and went for the dark purple, paper gift bags; there were barely any chocolates left! There were chocolate covered raisins—he didn't like those too much, a few kisses—those probably had dog drool all over them by now, and chocolate-covered…strawberries.

He sighed then, wishing Noni were back so he could feed her the rest of the strawberries—and get to the thing he wanted to do ever since he saw her smile at him while she flipped those 'pan cakes', those child-bearing hips just begging to be—erection.

"You can _not_ be serious," He said, looking down at his bulging pants. "I refuse. Nope. I shall not defile myself with such acts of—ugh, damn it all."

It was time for another trip to the bathroom.


	11. Need

**Update, 4/29/1013: ****Hey guys. So, so , so sorry it's been awhile before I posted anything new. Work's been CUH-RAZY! Busy busy busy. But not to worry, a new chapter IS in the works I will put it up when I've got the time to finish it! Hope youse all didn't lose interest to find out what happens next.**

**And OMG, did you guys see that Thor 2 trailer? Looks intense. **

**Special thanks to my new followers and reviewers. You guys make writing this story more fun! **

* * *

Noni walked over to the coffee machine in the middle of the hallway and purchased a cup. By this time, it was one-thirty in the morning. She sat back down and pondered the events of the evening. It's funny how a day can start out so good, seem like it's ending even better, then turn to complete shit, she thought.

But then again, she was used to disappointment of that nature.

"You gon' be alright, gurl?" Terrance asked she sat back down on the bench beside him. She called him up when Danny had gone to handle his son's death certificate and other paperwork, to let him know what had happened. If this turned into an all nighter, she and Danny would need someplace to crash for the night since cabs around there stopped running at four AM, and didn't run again until six AM. Neither one of them had driven their own cars.

"Yeah. I'll be okay. It's just so…" Noni sighed, unable to find the words.

"I know honey, I know. You've been through too much, and I know how close you were to Jake."

"Until recently. He wasn't spending as much time with his dad as he used to, or with Grimm, or with me. He seemed…distant. I asked him if he was alright a couple times. He told me he was but, something did seem a bit…off. I don't know. But I do know I can't take this shit anymore—first my mom, then Shanice…now Jake. It's like everyone I care about ends up dead. I mean, my mom wasn't perfect. She was far from it, but she was the only one I had. She took care of me when she wasn't high. She made sure she at least kept the lights and the water running so we weren't out on the street…"

There was the sound of footsteps.

"Let's go," Danny said, not even stopping to look at either Noni or Terrance.

He had gone through the emergency room exit when Terrance asked Noni, "You need a place to stay honey?"

"No, I need to get home…let me talk to Danny for a second," Noni followed Danny outside while Terrance trailed back a little for them to talk. "D, are you ready to go home?"

Danny was leaning against one of the brick hospital pillars with a cigarette in his hand. He brought it up to his lips and inhaled, holding it in for a moment before releasing it out into the bitter winter air. His hands were still caked over with the Jake's dried blood. "Nah. I'm staying in town for the night. But, here." He momentarily abandoned his cigarette between his lips as he turned to Noni, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out his wallet. He pulled out enough to pay for her cab ride home. He had called moments before she stepped out to join him in front of the emergency doors.

"No, Danny, you don't hav—

"_Take_ it," he insisted. "It's the _least_ I could do after everything you've done for me tonight. Just take it. I gotta go." He stuffed the money into Noni's hands then pulled up the hood of his jacket, tossed his cigarette, stuffed his hands in his jeans pockets and walked away. He hadn't made eye contact with her that whole time.

Noni didn't stop him. She just watched him walk away as she clenched the cash in her fist. Terrance approached her.

"Go ahead home and get some rest baby girl. You need it after tonight." He rubbed her back comfortingly and escorted her over to the cab that had just approached.

"I need…" Noni trailed off, suddenly very stressed and eager to be at home. She said her goodbyes to Terrance, got in the cab, and stared out the window the entire forty minute drive back home. She tried to clear her mind of the day's events but found herself gasping at the overwhelming reality of it all. The cab drives looked at her in his rear-view mirror.

"You okay, Miss?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just get me home, please."

By the time Noni arrived in front of her house, it was a quarter past four. Loki had heard the approaching car and came downstairs to open the door for her. He was wearing nothing but a pair of black pajama slacks since he thought it was a bit strange to sleep in the nude with a dog in his bed.

Noni was just about to stick her key into the lock when Loki opened the door to greet her. The state she was in, panting as if she'd just run a mile, concerned him. "Noni? Are you al—

She threw her arms around his neck and stood up on her toes to press her lips against his.

A shocked Loki just stood there, gawking at her, his eyes stretched wide as dinner plates.

Then after a moment, he was kissing her back.

He wrapped a strong, lean arm around her small waist and pulled her inside, shutting the door behind them and pressing her back up against it. Their breathing became frantic as they caressed each other, eager to feel and touch any bit of skin they could get their hands on. This was something Loki had only dreamed of. Then he broke away in an attempt to catch his breath.

He pressed his forehead against hers, holding her face in both his assertive-yet-gentle hands, glazing a thumb across her bottom lip. Then his lips met hers again. Her soft lips reminded him of chocolate kisses, velvety and smooth. He grasped her bottom lip between his pearly teeth and tugged gently, pulling her soft body closer against his. She melted like chocolate against him too, he thought.

She grasped his waist as she stood on the tips of her booted toes so that he would not have to bend down so far. She ran her tongue across his bottom lip, then his top on as he allowed entrance into his mouth. Her tongue danced circles around his as his hands ran up and down the length of her back, playing with the deep curves of her waist. He finally settled a hand on her left hip and grasped it snugly while his free hand moved up to play with one of her coily, mahogany tresses. He wanted to relish in the feeling of her body this close to him before she changed her mind again and ran away.

"I'm going to take a shower," she said as she broke away, turning to go up the stairs.

Loki felt his heart sink.

She ascended the first two steps, paused, then turned to Loki and said "Care to join me?"

Loki watched her face for a moment wondering whether or not she was serious. He quickly made up his mind that she was and said nothing (not wanting to ruin the mood) as he walked slowly toward staircase, grasped her outstretched hand and ascended the steps behind her.

* * *

The steam of the shower quickly filled the room as the two stood before it, entwined in a passionate kiss in each other's arms.

There was no rush, so they took their slow, sweet time. Loki teased the hem of Noni's black tank top with a thumb as he ran his hand beneath the fabric and trailed the tips of his fingers gingerly up her back. She giggled reflexively against his lips, his fingers tickling her sensitive skin.

"_Ticklish_ are we? I shall have to keep that in mind," the god of mischief growled through another kiss. He trailed off his kisses to her cheek, then to her jawline, then grasped her earlobe and sucked gently, letting his tongue explore the rim of her ear.

Noni voiced a moan as she grabbed him under the shoulders, holding him there. She felt a pang of pleasure deep within her core as he continued his ministrations against her ear, and then her neck. A river of wet heat pool between her thighs.

Loki pulled at the hem of her shirt and discarded it over his shoulder. Her warm, smooth skin was supple against his fingers and he slid them once again up her back—stopping short at the strange breast-harness she was wearing. He fumbled with it. "What is this _infernal_ device that holds your bosom?" He questioned exasperatedly. "Never mind. It must go." With a gesture of his hand, the 'device' was gone and he proceeded to explore the skin of her back as her warm, perky breasts and nipples pressed into his chest.

Then his fingers paused again as they grazed a long, raised scar above where the bra had been. He stopped in his tracks. Noni noticed immediately, suddenly self-conscious. "It's…from a long time ago," she said nervously.

"Then in _history_ it shall stay." Loki smiled, comfortingly at her, rubbing his lithe fingertips across the flesh of the scar.

Noni felt an odd, prickling sensation of cold in that spot, and then nothing. She tried to look over her shoulder but couldn't so she reached her hand down her back and felt around—he had taken her scar away. She looked back at him wonderingly for a moment; then she hopped up, wrapped her thighs around his waist, her arms around his neck, and attacked his mouth in a barrage of kisses.

He caught her around her back and her butt simultaneously and returned her lip's embrace just as vigorously. Quickly, he put her down after a moment, frantically removing the rest of her clothes as she removed his.

Somehow, they made their way into the shower—it was a brief one.

Loki had been _rock_ hard for the last half an hour and it was starting to become_ increasingly_ painful, but that didn't matter.

He wanted to savor this moment.

He picked up his petite, chocolate morsel and carried her to her bedroom, their lips _barely_ parting, even as he deposited her on her golden satin sheets and pinned her arms up above her head. Finally, and _reluctantly_, he broke away then to gaze down at his beauty. He took in every luscious curve of her body, noting the way she looked like a curvaceous candy bar against the deep golden fabric of the sheets.

His mouth watered.

"Unrelenting pleasure shall be yours this night. Again, and again, and again," he assured her, his gleaming emerald eyes bore into hers with all the carnal desire he felt from her since their first morning together.

Noni was soaked, her syrupy juices pooling down her crevice and onto the sheets beneath them his words made her long that much more for him—and Loki wasted no more time on words. His raven head dipped to her neck again as he sucked and nibbled his way down towards her breasts. He took one of her chocolate kissed mounds between his lips and ran his tongue over the very tip of her nipple as Noni shuddered beneath him, holding his dark head in that spot while he rolled his palm over the nipple of her other peak. She bit her lip in sheer ecstasy—it had been _way_ too long since she felt this way.

Loki switched his mouth to the other nipple, blowing a stream of icy breath over it and enjoying the feeling of it harden even more against his tongue. That gained a sharp inhale of breath from Noni. His right hand wandered down past her perfectly triangular tuft of soft curls to the smooth, already-slick lips of her pussy. With a middle finger, he delved down towards her engorged clit and rubbed in a sadistically slow circular motion, grinning up at her as she arched her back and a soft cry escaped past her lips

"_Tell_ me you want it, and it shall be _yours_," he teased, tracing out the letters of his name on her clit.

Noni moaned aloud. "Loki, _give _it to me baby. _I want it_," she half-moaned half-cried out.

Loki eagerly obliged, abandoning his post at her breast and appearing not even a full second later between her thighs with an unrelenting tongue. Noni cried out in pleasure and surprise wondering how the hell he'd moved so fast and damn glad he did. Gripping the golden satin around her, her thighs clamped around his dark crown.

Loki grabbed her thighs pressed them open "No, no, dear. I want to _see_ you," he spreading her pussy wider with his thumbs as he lavished all his tongue's attention on her engorged clit. Over and over his tongue rolled as he sucked and licked and nibbled and tasted, juices that were even better than the chocolate he'd eaten before. Her cunt reminded him of those chocolate covered strawberries.

It wasn't long before he had Noni calling out his name: "_Loki_…I'm com—!"

He stopped abruptly then, appearing again at her open mouth and dipping in with lips and tongue making her taste herself on him, then broke away.

"Not yet," he devilshly grinned as his hand grasped the back of her neck and pulled her puffy lips into his while moving her to straddle his thighs; then he sat on his knees on the bed.

Noni's pussy was leaking_ all_ over him in an endless river of lust. Her hands grasped his hair as she stared into the green abyss of his eyes, wanting desperately for him to fill the void between her legs. Their lips greeted as Loki lifted her by both of her well-rounded ass cheeks and pressed the head of his vein-riddled, rock hard cock at the opening of her neglected entrance. He lowered her slowly down his shaft and Noni realized why he always sat with his legs wide open.

She clinched her eyes closed and whimpered against his mouth as her hands clung to his hair. Loki pulled away from her mouth to gaze into her eyes.

"_Look at me,_" he demanded in a sexy growl of a voice, and licked his lips as she obeyed. He wanted to see her face as he buried himself fully within the taught walls of her womb. She felt his cock in the pit of her stomach and her head snapped back as she cried out to the ceiling.

Loki allowed her a moment to adjust as he spent that time lavishing eager lips and tongue along her collarbone. And then it was time to move. He slid both his forearms under Noni's thighs, lifted her up again, and slid her slowly back down, feeling every drop of her creamy cunt dripping down his shaft. He groaned and buried his head against her neck as she clasped her arms around his, his throbbing dick pulsating deep within her.

Noni released his neck and pushed him gently down to lie on his back against the pillows. Loki's hands never left her hips as she began to undulate her pussy on him, snaking her waist back and fourth. He closed his eyes and buried the back of his head into the pillows, his fingers grasping Noni's glistening hips as she rode him steadily faster.

"This is _Valhalla_. I have arrived," he moaned out, rubbing his hands up past her flat tummy, her breasts, her neck and then stopped to caress her face. Noni smiled down at him, bouncing her pussy ever faster as she pressed her hands into his hard abdomen for leverage—it was shining with a layer of their mixed body heat.

Loki opened his eyes then and grabbed her around the waist as he laid her back against the sheets. He grasped her by the thighs and wrapped them around his waist as he delved in and out of her pussy, sending shockwaves of pleasure up her spine.

"_Mmm_,_ Loki, that feels so good baby, don't stop,_" she breathed.

That was a command he didn't mind following.

His lips attacked hers as he dove again and again and again into her center, the bed creaking under his god weight and his enthusiastic pussy-pounding.

"I want you to scream my name at the top of your lungs when I make you _burst_ from pleasure. I want the sound of your ecstasy to awaken the _gods,_" he breathed as he pelted into her faster and faster.

"Oh _fuck_!" She screamed through clenched eyes as she gripped the sheets. "_Fuck, fuck fuck! Loki I'm coming!_" She squeezed her thighs around Loki's waist in a vice-grip as round upon round of_ blinding_ sexual pleasure ripped through her body and she squirted the juices of her quivering pussy onto the golden covers.

Loki smirked down at her, not far behind. He lifted her off the bed and stood on his knees as he pumped his cock into her over and over again. "Shit!" He groaned out loud, shooting his eyes up at the ceiling as he reached his own culmination of pleasure and emptied every last drop of his accumulated seed into her. The pressure of his cum sent Noni's body reeling into another shuddering orgasm as she clung around him with all of her limbs. He collapsed backward into the pillows with his petite chocolate treat on top of him, spent.

Noni lay against Loki with her thigh spread across his waist, panting as she came down from her high. She ran a hand across his glistening chest and rested it there, her head laying in the crook of his arm. Loki caressed her head and leaned forward to plant a kiss on her forehead while his free hand caressed the length of her smooth thigh. She smiled and closed her eyes; he did too. They lay that way, entwined, for the remainder of the night, their bodies completely relaxed from the much needed release.

Deep, dreamless sleep followed close behind them.


	12. The List

**Phew! Finally!**

* * *

Noni groggily stirred awake with the steam of last night's tryst still heavy on her eyelids.

Her eyes fluttered to life in dimly sunlit room, the scant light illuminating the chest of the pale-skinned god beside her. He lay still, his arm cast lazily across her shoulders. His body was still, save for the steady rise and fall of his chest, and the delicate breeze of his breath brushing against Noni's forehead.

She unraveled herself from his arm, gingerly and sat upright on the bed, gathering up the sheets and clutching them somberly to her chest. She hadn't forgotten what happened last night—none of it.

The remnants of the sexual high her body reached last night were warring with her deep sense of loss. Not just at Jake's death, but after all the loss in her life.

In that moment, she wished more than anything that her grandmother was still alive. Although they didn't spend as much time together as she would have liked to, she could always count on her for a kind or wise word from time to time. It came as a great source of comfort to her in her youth.

But alas, her grandmother was one more person that she could add to the seemingly endless list of losses in her life. She began to sob quietly.

Loki opened his eyes to gaze at Noni's back. Her curly locks cascaded down all around her head to hide her face, but he could see her body was slouched as she cried near-silent tears. Sitting up to move behind her, he wrapped both his arms around her form and embraced her securely to his chest. He placed a tender kiss on her smooth, bare shoulder.

They sat that way in silence for long while, the only thing breaking the silence being the sound of a whimper beside the bed. Having suddenly remembered his bout with Grimm and the chocolate the night before, Loki looked over his shoulder and Grimm who had his paws pressed against the side of the bed, sniffing around since he was too short to see over the edge.

"He's probably hungry," Noni said through a sniffle as she glanced over in his direction as well.

"Not to alarm you, Noni, but he ate some of the chocolate last night—don't worry." Loki wrapped his arms more snugly around Noni's waist as she was about to spring from the bed in a panic.

"He did what!"

"He is fine! He's fine, darling. He has purged it all, I made sure of it. Now he requires sustenance."

She settled after a moment. If he wasn't okay, he'd most likely be dead by now, and Noni would have surely been a wreck then.

"You stay here. I shall go feed him."

With that, Loki unraveled himself from Noni's body, kissed her temple and got off the bed, using his gift of sorcery to dress himself in a pair of black trousers that seemed to be made of the same material of her sheets. He liked the way they felt against his skin. Grimm quietly followed behind as Loki descended the steps, his claws making a faint tapping on the hardwood floors.

The day was bright now, the light of the sky illuminating the entire kitchen in a hazy, dreamy glow. Loki felt absolutely marvelous today. He had a spring in his step and a chipper in his voice. It felt like a huge weight had ascended from his shoulders. But still, there was the lingering question in the back of his mind 'what if?'

What if Noni only gave herself up to him for release?

What if she only needed that one evening of comfort?

As good as last night felt, he wanted assurance that she actually wanted him for him, and not just physical comfort. The fear of rejection remained ever present in his heart…

Upstairs, Noni was checking her phone for new messages. She had received a voicemail from Terrance earlier that morning before the meeting. He told her boss what had happened. There was a message from her boss, Cassie, as well, telling her to take the rest of the week off. That gave her a four day weekend.

Cassie was a friendly, red-headed, round woman who was even shorter than five foot three Noni. She hired Noni when she saw her sketchbook of costumes and dresses after Terrance had introduced them. Cassie ran the local bridal shop where she made custom dresses and shipped them all over the country. You had to have an appointment to place an order since she had a significant number of clients. Terrance and Noni were two of her top designers.

She put her phone back on the dresser and headed to the bathroom to shower. Stepping inside and sliding the glass door closed behind her, she turned the jet-stream shower on full blast and let the hot water wash away her grief. She adjusted the shower head and pressed her palms into the granite shower wall before her, letting the water beat down on her head and stretch her curls even further down her back.

Her hair was gently pushed to the side and over her left shoulder as a pair of cool lips pressed against her right one. She turned, wet-faced, and gazed up at Loki's evergreen eyes. He stared back, knowing better than to say anything-especially when he didn't know any words that would offer her comfort right now.

Noni let her own body do the talking for the both of them. She wrapped her arms around his torso and pressed her head to his chest and he answered by wrapping his around her shoulders and pulling her closer, happy that she didn't run from him this time.

There was so much to say and hear between the two of them—and they were both clueless as to just how much. But for now, the silence was welcome.

Loki spent the rest of the morning watching Noni with curiosity as he usually did. There had been a few times in the weeks before that he secretly followed her to work, intrigued about her strange Midgardian rituals, disguised as a raven. He had once pecked a little boy who threw a rock at him. But this time was different. He didn't have to look away when she caught him staring. His glances were unabated and shameless. Not outright laser-beam of death staring, but he watched her actions with great interest. Noni didn't mind. She liked looking at him too.

H watched her twist her hair, lounging lazily at her side on her large bed. Taking a lock of her curls in his hand, he twirled it gently around his index finger. Then he gingerly tugged at it, curious about how springy it was.

"What are you doing?" Noni muttered through a smirk.

"Playing with your hair," Loki replied honestly. "I like it." He leaned up, brought the strand up to his nose and inhaled. "Why do you smell so damn good?" He asked, sitting up and resting on an elbow, smiling.

Noni threw him a side glance and a grin. "Because we just showered? I did use my cocoa powder conditioner…the one you tried to eat."

Loki let out a chuckle. "That was horrible. But it is more than that, my love. You smell…intoxicating." He growled, dipping down to kiss her bare knee.

She was wearing nothing but a red, satin robe and matching lace panties. She giggled, and cocked an eyebrow. "Maybe it's because you're addicted to chocolate."

"Yes, I think you are correct. I am addicted to you." She started to shake with internal laughter, a deep cherry staining her cheeks.

"What was the jest?" He asked, more curious than offended at her laughter.

Truth is, she was slightly embarrassed at his comment. It sent the butterflies fluttering through her insides. He saw the color in her cheeks and knew what it meant. But being who he was, he decided to play along. Suddenly he became quite serious and stern-faced, lowering his brow to 'glare' at her.

"You dare to laugh at a god, mortal?" He demanded.

The smile faded from her face as she looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a 'don't start no shit' countenance. Loki played innocent.

"What? I didn't say anything…my, you are quite firey for one so small." He was grinning again, not able to contain his amusement when she grew cross with him. It was just so endearing.

She pounced on him, throwing a smooth thigh over his waist and pressing her palms into the bed on either side of his head.

"God or not, this is my house and I'm on top." She teased.

"So it would seem. I rather like you that way, actually," Loki gripped her hips through the smooth material of her robe and contemplated her eyes. Then, sliding his grasp up her back, he pulled her down for a kiss. Noni pulled away to sit up again for a moment, inhibition kitting her brows together in a slight frown.

This was risky, moving so quickly, she thought. Despite that he had now been living with her for a few weeks without incident.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, with Loki watching her face in interest. He reached up to cup her cheek in his palm before sitting up with her legs around his waist. She locked her hands around his neck as he held her against himself. He pressed his forehead to hers and closed his eyes as well. After a moment, Noni exhaled, and her lips met his in tender a kiss of trust and absolution.

In that moment, Noni threw aside her thoughts of moving slowly and gave in, wanting to savor every bit of time she had with those she cared about from now on, because she didn't know how long she had with anyone anymore.

This life waits for no one.

No goodbyes, no missed connections, no apologies.

You could be dead at the drop of a dime.

In that moment, Noni consciously decided to make the best of every day she was given, and this man—this god beneath her was something like a miracle in her life. Something mysterious and amazing and glorious that set her body alight and her pulse quickening at just one touch. Someone who made her laugh and made her happy, and made her feel safe—effortlessly. She didn't want to waste precious time questioning it. She just wanted him as long as she could have him.

They spent the rest of the afternoon doing Midgardian things that Noni enjoyed and that Loki was curious about. He figured getting her mind off of negative things was the best thing for her at the moment, and wished that she had been there in his earlier life. He began to feel deeply that, had he had her then, he wouldn't have been so messed up.

The duo watched movies like 300 and Lord of the Rings, and Noni had to explain to him the concept of CGI and filmmaking. She was having fun, and was relieved for the company, even though in the back of her mind she was worried about Danny. She had tried calling him several times, and called Terrance to tell him to keep an eye out for him.

She ordered pizza for dinner—well, several pizzas. Loki ate one and a half by himself. Grimm ate two slices as well.

Danny was still not at home, or at least not answering his door, so Noni continued to call. Later that evening, after a total of thirty-six attempts throughout the afternoon, Danny finally answered his phone.

"Danny, are you alr—

"The funeral's on Thursday; Spring Street Chapel."

Silence.

He hung up without a single additional word.

And then, despite every ounce of relief she felt that day, she finally realized she had another name to add to that list. Danny.


	13. Long Live The King

**Keep those awesome reviews a-comin' folks! I'm really appreciate of the feedback. It helps tremendously. 3**

* * *

Noni stood there in the kitchen, mouth agape with words unsaid, staring at the black screen of her phone.

Her eyes grew hot with unshed tears, but they seemed too dried from crying to allow for any to fully develop and fall. She was too dumbfounded at Danny's dismissiveness to even ask what time the funeral would begin. She got her answer though, a single text message reading 9:30 AM flashed across her phone's screen. She responded with a text of her own, 'Danny please, I need to know that you are okay. I know you aren't _okay_, but I need to know at least that your wellbeing is safe…._please_?' She waited for several minutes, but a heavy, dead silence was her answer.

Her heart sank.

There was a chuckle from the living room as Loki sat eating a bowl chocolate syrup covered caramel corn watching one of the many movies of the night.

Not knowing what to do with herself at that point, Noni wandered silently into her workroom, placed her hands on her hips, and stared at the walls that were alight with colorful swatches and sketches of work past, present, and future. She honestly didn't feel like doing work, but she needed a moment to herself to clear her head and keep it above the ever-deepening sea of her life.

"Get it together, girl. You've survived worse, right? You're a fighter. You've always had to be. You've never had a choice…," the pep talk calmed her for the moment, as she began to remember just how strong she really was. But, she knew that there would come a time when she and Loki needed to have a serious discussion about some things in her past, and some things in his. Both of them were reluctant to share anything—to open up and risk judgment or rejection, or even to relive nightmares of the past.

But it must be done.

She didn't know what she was expecting, really—actually—she put all expectations out of her mind. She didn't actually_ know_ how he felt about her, although his actions showed–so far—that he at least _cared_ about her a little. Who knew what the future would hold for either of them?

Turning around to exit her office, she came back down the hall and looked toward the front door before entering the archway of her kitchen. To her left, she looked past the threshold of the double folding doors that led to the living room at Loki, who was still watching the TV above the fireplace. He laughed again, finishing the last of his salty-sweet treat and licking the evidence from his fingers. Noni watched his face and chuckled inwardly at his love for sweets. He had a beautiful smile, she appreciated…pearly white teeth. His whole head was like a sharp object: the sharp black of his hair, the sharp green hue of his irises against electrically white eyes; smooth, blemish free alabaster skin and a brilliant set of ivories; his cheeks were chiseled and his jaw, strong; his neck was long and regal; his arms were strong and slender and cut as was his chest and that _V_...that delicious V that teased his hips and disappeared beyond the hem of his pants...

"Whew," she faned herself, finished with her shamless ogling, and stood on her toes to reach the cabinets above her head for two glasses. It was nice to appreciate a man again, she realized. She had before; who_ wouldn't_ agree that Danny was a looker? Intense, baby blue eyes; full, pouty lips; tall, muscular.

But Danny wasn't Loki.

Danny doesn't make her feel the way Loki does. He didn't mystify and captivate her. He doesn't set the butterflies in her belly aflutter. He doesn't make her skin glow with happiness and comfort. He was just a friend to her, and she liked it that way.

"You alright, love?" Loki called to her from the couch. She came out a moment later wielding two glasses of red wine and a grin.

"Trying to get me drunk so you can have your way with me, are you?" He asked with a sly smirk.

"Like I'd need to get you drunk for that," she winked.

Loki discarded the empty bowl on the coffee table beside his feet which were propped up on top, he took the offered glass and made room for Noni who nestled down beside him and rested her legs over his lap. He grasped her thigh with his free hand as he took a sip from his glass.

"So what shall we watch next? I rather like these 'movies'."

"Hmm…maybe something animated this time." Noni went on to explain the concept of cartoons and animation. They settled on The Lion King.

Loki's face was lit with intrigue as they watched the opening scene with Simba being cast towards the light of the sun by Rafiki. "What do you call these creatures?" "Lions," Noni answered, through a slight yawn. "Rafiki is a baboon. The striped ones are Zebras, The ones with long necks are—." She continued on through a long yawn as she placed her quarter-full wine glass on the table and cuddled up against the pillows. After a few moments, she began to drift off.

Loki didn't notice.

By this time, Scar had taken the screen and his gaze was glued to it. Suddenly he was hit with an image of himself: the green eyes, the black locks…the scheming…

Mufasa reminded him of Thor. The chosen one. The beautiful, favored son.

"Don't do it…" The scene where Mufasa was at Scar's mercy while dangling from the cliff had Loki sitting forward on the edge of his seat. His eyes were glazed over with held back tears as he gazed, helplessly into the screen.

And then Scar let go.

"Long live the King…," the words sang like an haunting echo in his ears. Loki grabbed the remote control and turned the television off then and there, sitting back against the pillows of the couch with a deep sigh and closing his eyes.

Was he really like Scar?

He had tried to kill Thor, this was true…But he felt at the time as though he'd been justified. It wasn't just out of nowhere. He didn't scheme to get the throne, it had been _given_ too him when Thor was banished…He had just tried to be the best ruler he could. And then the Warriors Three and their _blatant_ disrespect and disregard for authority. He was never even given a fair chance to prove that_ he_ could be a better ruler…But even with Thor in banishment, he was still cast aside like some wicked, conniving step-child. All he really ever wanted was to be Thor's equal, he'd told him that night, and it was true.

He stared into the abyss of the black TV screen…all he wanted to be was Thor's equal. But he was_ never_ his equal.

The Allfather had _never_ planned for_ him_ to have the throne. He was raised with the impression that he had a fair chance, that he was just as respected and important. But it was all a load of shit. It was like some great, unfunny joke which he was the brunt of. All along, his _only_ purpose was to live in the shadow of his _hypocrite_ brother…but, there resided somewhere in the realm of his broken, damaged heart, something that still wanted _deeply_ to go home; to be with his mother and father and brother, even after all this destruction. And he wanted to take Noni back with him—show her a world she'd never _dreamed_ she'd see before.

Loki closed his eyes and smiled.

The thought of two gods, two brothers falling in love with _mortal women_, what were they odds of—wait, _love?_

The audacity of the thought came as a shock to him. No, of course not. It was too soon…wasn't it? How does romantic love work anyway? There had to be some sort of formula…didn't there? And would the only family he'd ever known even have him even have him back after all that he had done?

His eyes sprang open as he looked around the room, his brain riddled with way too many deep thoughts for one sitting. Grimm was asleep on the floor beneath his legs, and Noni…he glanced toward her.

She was in her angel's slumber.

His face softened and his heart melted at the sight of her curly head resting peacefully against the pillows. And her cute little feet with perfect, dainty, red-painted toes were tucked together for warmth in his lap. He twisted the little silver ring on the third toe of her right foot, then snuck in a tickle to the underside of her foot as he watched her face with a playful smirk. She wriggled her feet and smiled, still asleep.

What could one truly worry about with a woman like this in your arms, he thought?

Perhaps this was the only home he needed.

And for once it felt like he didn't have to compete with anyone for what was rightfully _his_ and his _alone_—Noni. She was his now…or at least that's the way he saw it. Why else would she give him the most intimate part of her? And it felt equally as good to know that she wanted him too—at least that's what he _felt_ and what _seemed_ to him…so far…

He yawned. It had been a long day. He lifted his angel's legs gently and scooped her up into his arms. Grimm sprung to life at his feet was readying a bark. "Shh, friend. Our princess is asleep. Do not disturb her." Grimm seemingly answered with a tilt of his small head and a wag of his stubby tail. "That's a good pup." The miniature dog followed behind his newfound master with not a peep save for the click-click of his paws on the floor and the tinkling of his dog tag.

Round the couch, up the stairs and into the bedroom, Loki carried Noni, and Grimm followed behind, curling into his basket at the foot of the bed. Noni was already wearing her yoga pants and a t-shirt, and Loki, eyeing the _luscious_ hill of her behind and the deep concave of her waist was resisting the urge to wake her up and strip her naked then and there.

He slipped her onto her pillows under the big red, duvet comforter and got in after, curling a strong arm about her slight waist and pulling her close. Her scent radiated off her body like a glowing aura, making him snuggle closer and take a deep whiff of her hair, before resting his head against the pillow and following quickly in sleep behind her with a serene smile plastered across his countenance.

The waning gibbous sat high in the sky, illuminating the room with life, though all was silent save for the steady, rhythmic breathing of three slumbering bodies within. A sudden, splitting pain at his temple caused Loki to awake abruptly and throw his palm to his head. He clenched his jaw. A voice, _dark_ and raspy spoke to him, as if from nowhere,

_"Always second best…" _


	14. Alone

The voice and the pain were gone just as abruptly as they'd arrived. Slowly, fitfully, Loki had managed to find sleep again, brushing it off as a bad dream.

Monday morning came, unhurriedly. Noni and Loki had spent most of the weekend in the throes of Midgardian entertainment. She had taught him how to play videogames and bake cupcakes…_chocolate_, of course. That weekend, she had been determined to be happy and carefree, and Loki was determined to indulge her as she repaired herself. After all, happiness is a state of mind, right? At least that's what she told herself. But it wasn't just about the self-pep talks and mantras. She truly _was_ happy for the first time in a long time.

They walked, arm-in-arm down the sunny, snowy sidewalks downtown, receiving attention from the ladies. Noni didn't mind. Her man was a god, after all. They passed up the Inn, a few travel agencies that she was always surprised still existed, restaurants, pet stores and one of the local pubs that was open for business with drunken patrons drinking their troubles away inside. The town wasn't dead, that's for sure, though she preferred not to live so close to it...

She had to explain to Loki why there were wreaths and lights up all over the place, and what the point was of the big decorated tree in Town Square. Christmas was five days away. Noni didn't celebrate it anymore, so she really didn't bother with the decorating and merriment.

"Hey Noni, girl. How are you? Who's your friend?" A recently re-tanned Dominique asked as she stood in the door of the Main Street Bakery. She was staring, unabashedly at Loki from head to toe while fluttering her bat-wing like eyelashes.

Today, he was dressed in black trousers, a knee-length, forest green military-style coat with silver buttons and a black muffler. Noni had designed the coat for him (of course, she didn't have to sew it as he conjured it up from thin air) and he looked _damn_ good in it.

Dominique looked at his shoes trying to determine the size as her eyes trailed hopefully up his legs and—yes! His coat was unbuttoned just above the crotch and—damn was that the outline of his—Noni sighed impatiently, cleared her throat out loud and rolled her eyes.

"Hello, Dominique. This is Loki. Loki, this is Dominique. She bakes bread," her voice was disinterested. Noni wasn't the jealous type—especially of the 'Oompa Loopa' in front of her, but she did find her gawking to be exceedingly rude and unsettlingly creepy.

"Well in that case, we shall take a loaf home. Right, darling?" Loki smiled down at her and pulled her closer to his side. He was well aware of the fact that the woman had been staring (as she should be) and where she'd been staring, in awe of all his godly glory. But, she was being disrespectful to his beloved with her brazen ogling. "You were going to teach me to make… 'grilled cheese sandwiches ' after all?" His eyes went back to the woman "You, bread baker, fetch us a loaf of your finest bread," he snapped.

Noni's jaw dropped silently and her eyes widened. She buried a snigger into the neck of her scarf and watched Dominique's face as she fixed her over-injected lips to mouth off. Noni stopped her before things escalated. She had no idea who she was standing in front of. "You heard him Dominique. Customer's always right." The orangey lady scowled and headed in the bakery. Loki looked down at Noni and winked. She elbowed him gently as they followed into the bread shop behind her.

* * *

They left the place without another incident and made their way to where they were initially headed, the library. It was open now and the renovations were complete. A second floor was added and a reader's den—and a Starbucks, as if this town needed _another_ coffee shop.

Noni skimmed the aisles determined to find a book on Norse mythology while Loki just wandered the shelves reding the titles of the spines of the books. She succeeded, and moved to sit in a little clearing in the corner of the reader's den, surrounded by over-sized, deep purple pillows on a padded mat on the floor. Loki grabbed a book off a shelf as well, going for a big black one with a picture of a rather large-foreheaded, somber-looking mortal on the cover.

"The Complete Works of Edgar A. Poe," he read aloud approaching to sit beside Noni on the pad.

"Poe's the man; one of my favorites. He's pretty dark," Noni mouthed, flipping through the pages of her own book.

"The Tell-Tale Heart. Hmm," Loki muttered as he read the title of the story. He read silently and finished the piece in about eight minutes, a look of fiendish delight spread across his features."Damn. That was intense. I mistook the man on the cover for a dullard. What a magnificent piece! That guy was completely mad! Wonderfully worded—,"

"Shhh!" Noni nudged him gently with an elbow as his volume had suddenly increased a good 150%.

"Oh, my apologies," he whispered with a grin as he flipped to the poetry section.

Noni was reading about the Rainbow Bridge in Asgard and how Heimdall, the Guardian of the bridge could see worlds away, something so tiny as a speck of pollen on the leg of a bee. She wondered if he could see Loki and her right at this moment…or at a moment when they had been—her jaw dropped slightly in embarrassment at the thought. Odin, the Allfather; King of Asgard and Frigga, his wife—like Zeus and Hera of Olympus, she thought, and wondered if they were real as well. The Warriors Three and Thor, god of Thunder and lightning._ "Wow, he's handsome,"_ she thought, though she admittedly preferred Loki's_ dark_ features. Then there Loki, god of sorcery and mischief—among other things, she reflected and blushed.

Suddenly, she found herself wondering just how old Loki actually _was_. Though, if there are worlds and alternate universes and time zones, it most likely really didn't matter anyway. She decided not to ask him about that, as it would only reconfirm her own mortality. She read on to the story of how he turned Sif's hair black and sitting there next to him in that moment seemed so surreal. Could it possibly even be so that she was in the presence of a being from beyond the stars? Or had all her years of loss finally caused her to snap and hallucinate the entire thing?

She marveled silently at Loki who was scanning his eyes across the page he was reading, 'The Raven,' Poe's epic narrative poem. Her personal favorite piece by Poe was The Black Cat.

"That was a very…_peculiar_ bird," he said, finally reaching the end. "Granted, I have been a raven myself, but never that menacingly creepy—."

"Yeah, that bird was—wait, you've been a what? What do you mean you've been a Raven?" She looked incredulous. She had clearly not gotten to the part of her book that mentioned that Loki had the ability to shapeshift.

"I told you, my dear. I can do _many_ things. Things that not even your book knows about." He offered her a naughty wink before returning his gaze to the book in his lap and thumbing through the pages.

Then a thought suddenly hit her. She had seen a big black bird around town a few times when she had been at work, granted, she just thought it was a crow. But then she remembered that Ravens were much bigger than crows, and this one, really_ big_ bird seemed to always be conveniently around… "Wait a minute. Have you been follow—."

"Alone." Loki's smile faded as he unwittingly interrupted Noni, looking down at the title of the poem he had landed on.

"What?" She seemed confused for a moment, then her eyes traveled downward and looked at the page. Her countenance softened in understanding. It's a poem that she knew very well, one that when she was in school, she could relate to almost word for word. Loki began to read the words on the page aloud:

_From childhood's hour I have not been_

_As others were—I have not seen_

_As others saw—I could not bring_

_My passions from a common spring—_

_From the same source I have not taken_

_My sorrow—I could not awaken_

_My heart to joy at the same tone—_

_And all I lov'd—I lov'd alone—_

_Then—in my childhood—in the dawn_

_Of a most stormy life—was drawn_

_From ev'ry depth of good and ill_

_The mystery which binds me still—_

_From the torrent, or the fountain—_

_From the red cliff of the mountain—_

_From the sun that 'round me roll'd_

_In its autumn tint of gold—_

_From the lightning in the sky_

_As it pass'd me flying by—_

_From the thunder, and the storm—_

_And the cloud that took the form_

_(When the rest of Heaven was blue)_

_Of a demon in my view—_

A solitary tear splashed across the ink of the page. Noni looked up and realized that it came from Loki.

"Loki?" She called to him. His brows knit together as he squeezed his eyes shut. She took his hand.

Instantly, they phased from their place on the pad and found themselves sitting on the edge of Noni's bed. "I have to get used to that…good thing we were all the way in the corner and no one was around," she admitted, though it's how they'd gotten into town that day. She made sure they arrived in a place no one would see. Neither one of them needed the questions.

Turning to him, she smoothed a stray lock of hair behind his ear and cupped her hand under his chin. Gently, she turned his head to face her. He let her, though he was still gripping his book in his hands. He had never allowed himself to show such weakness around _anyone_. He felt so utterly pathetic and weak right now, yet so broken and in need of comfort at the same time. And allowing himself to be comforted by her had already been decided _weeks_ ago. From the moment he'd awoken on her couch. It just seemed so…_right_.

She searched his eyes for a moment. "Are you ready to talk?"

He knew exactly what she meant, and was surprised that she held off questioning him for this long. But he really didn't want to relay the events of his horrible deeds to the only person he had left in the universe. However she had opened her heart and her home to him, and he decided it was only fair. He struggled for the words with which to begin.

"I…I tried to…kill…my brother."

Noni sucked in air, but her face remained neutral. No judgment, not yet, she promised herself. She blinked, "Go on…"

Loki frowned, as he glanced at her face in shock. Was she really _not_ recoiling from him? On _that_ statement _alone_? Then, she reached out and grabbed his hand. He grasped hers and pressed it to his lips for a long moment, then took a deep breath and continued.

The story of Thor's initial slaughter of the Frost Giants, of his banishment, of Loki's jealousy and short-termed rule over Asgard; Betrayal; Lies; Deceit; how he found out that he was not Odin's son, how he became king; Patricide of the beast Laufey, his own _father_, who had left him to rot, hidden away because he was born smaller than the rest of the Frost Giants and how he tried to commit fratricide and genocide unfolded inside Noni's head.

All the while, a silent stream of tears dripped from Loki's eyes and on to the back of her hand. He had been _completely_ honest. Though it hadn't been the_ first_ time he'd told the truth, it was hard to hear just how awful he had become.

He really was like Scar after all.

His head bowed as he finished. He couldn't even bring himself to look at her. "I will go. I don't need to corrupt you any longer. I am a monster. No better than my father. I should not have intruded on your life this way. It is just another thing I've gone and—."

She caught her breath, not realizing that she had stopped breathing somewhere in the midst of all that information. Her eyelids fluttered. "Excuse me? You didn't _intrude_ on my life, Loki. I _let_ you in. I _welcomed_ you to stay here. I could have easily let you go…multiple times. And we _all_ have done things that we aren't proud of. Asgardians, Midgardians and everyone in between."

She leaned up and kissed his lips, tenderly, tasting the salt of his tears on her tongue and knowing that even though they were worlds apart, there was something that connected them both: grief, and a longing to be loved. She took yet another breath, heart skipping a beat as she prepared herself.

"I…I've killed too, Loki. Who am I to judge you?"

Loki's eyes shot disbelievingly at Noni's face at that admittance. It just wasn't possible. Someone so beautiful and kind could not have possibly done such a thing.

She grasped his hand tighter, inhaled, exhaled, and began to recount the story of how she came to live in the Catskill Mountains.


	15. The Gun in the Bun

**This chapter is dark...**

* * *

"I grew up with a drug addict for a mother. I'm sure you know what drugs are. Substances that people take that alter their minds and put them in in a hallucinogenic state."

"Yes, I have heard stories. There is a drink that the Elves of Alfheim and of Svartalfheim make for visitors of their land. The elves of Alfheim are very pale; fair-skinned, with very long near-white hair, exceedingly beautiful. The elves of Svartalfheim are almost completely opposite; pitch-black skin with very long dark hair, yet equally as beautiful. You should not trust the beauty of any elf, however. One bite of their food or sip of their drink and you will be driven mad—and can never leave their land. When their food and passes your lips, you see them for the hideous creatures they really are. Their beauty is false; a wonderful trick.

"Well, the drugs here eat you from the outside in. Your personality begins to change, you do…horrible things for money just to be able to get a taste of your drug. And there isn't just one kind, and they're not made to be consumed, not the man-made ones at least. Heroine is something you shoot into your arm with a hypodermic needle. It changes you for the worst if you let it. If you become addicted like my mother did, you lose yourself. She died because of it. She went into something called cardiac arrest on the kitchen floor when I was sixteen. Cardiac arrest is when your heart is under so much stress that it basically gives out and stops beating. Her mother, my grandmother had died just three months before that. I think my mother just gave up. My grandma called her up told her that she was disappointed in the way she turned out. I think those were her last words to her before she died.

"But she wasn't always that way. There was a time when I was a baby that my father was alive and they were married and in love. She took care of us all. But after my dad died it was just us. She worked two jobs to take care of us in the beginning, but after a while, she just stopped caring about life. That's when the drugs started. So I did what any eight year old child my age did when they were hungry. I learned to fend for myself.

"After my mom died, I was put into a foster home. That's where kids without parents present go live. They put you with temporary families until you're of legal age to take care of yourself, or until you get…adopted. I was too old for adoption. Everyone wants little pretty gurgling babies. No one wants a sixteen year old with an 'attitude problem'. That's usually what people assumed about the older kids. So I considered myself lucky went to live with a family until I was legal. At first. They were the Carson family and they lived on Staten Island. They _seemed_ picture perfect. Mr. and Mrs. Carson were both teachers who went to church _every_ Sunday without fail. They were prominent in their communities, and they never missed their daughter's dance recitals o their son's karate matches. And so I guess no one would notice that Mr. Carson would try to sneak into my room at night. I learned to lock my door after the first two times. I always used to wonder why his own twelve year daughter didn't seem to like being around him…I can now guess why. I also got the sense that he was extremely controlling. You would never hear the parents arguing, but sometimes Mrs. Carson would just look so fearful, especially when they went into their bedroom after even the _slightest_ difference in opinion and closed the door behind them.

Loki's expression turned to that of someone listening intently to one of complete shock, and then fury in a matter of seconds.

"What did you say?" He sprang from the side of the bed and turned to glare at her, his lips pressed into a hard line. "I will _kill_ him with my bare _hands_."

"Already done." She said simply.

Loki's expression softened.

"Sit down, baby. Let me finish." She pat the bed and half-smiled up at him, her face still obviously grief-stricken.

He sat down after a moment. He picked up her hand and holding it on his knee, thumbed across her smooth flesh.

"He finally succeeded one night, after he realized I wasn't _that_ kind of girl. The kind who would just willingly give it up to a grown, married man."

Loki felt his heart sink into the pit of his stomach, already anticipating what was coming next. He didn't realize he'd stopped breathing.

"He picked me up from school one day. That wasn't out of the ordinary, since he's done it before, but that didn't make it any less uncomfortable. He worked at the same high school I went to. I was completely silent in the car as usual, just looking down at a book on my lap trying to completely tune out the fact that I was in the car with a pedophile. I didn't noticed when we arrived at Willowbrook Park, 15 minutes in the opposite direction of where we lived. He stopped the car and turned off the gas. That's when I finally looked up. ..." Noni's breathing hitched as a stream of unrelenting tears burst from her eyes. "I was...a virgin!" She threw her arms around Loki's neck and buried her face into his chest "He raped me! He raped me!" She screamed.

Loki pulled her into himself as deeply as he could and squeezed his arms around her back and waist. He held her tightly as if his arms could shield her from the evils of the universe. He felt as is his heart was _breaking_ for her. "Shhh, darling. I'm here, I'm _here_," he cooed, struggling to maintain steadiness in his crackling voice; to be her rock when she needed him most.

Her body convulsed and shook under him as unabated emotion flowed through her after being pushed away for so long. She had only ever told one person that.

Shanice.

After what seemed like forever, Noni calmed down. She sniffled and Loki pushed her up so he could look at her face. His countenance was grave "You know that I would _never_ do _anything_ to hurt you, don't you?"

She looked into his solemn eyes with her own tear-stained, woeful ones and nodded. "Yes."

"And you very well know that I would _never, ever_ allow someone else to hurt you."

That wasn't even a question.

"I know," Noni answered anyway.

"You don't have to tell me anymore if you do not wish to. I would understand."

"No, I _have_ to tell you."

"Are you sure, love?"

"...Yeah." She sniffled again and cleared her throat, wiping her eyes on the back of her jacket sleeve. They were both still fully shoed and clothed from their outing earlier.

"Okay."

She decided to leave out the obvious details of the rape. After all, it's what came next that mattered most. "He had dragged me out of the car to the middle of the woods and...when I struggled and screamed at the pain, hit me so hard that I went unconscious for a few minutes. When I came to, I saw that he was finished and had his back to me buckling his pants. So I got up as quietly as I could and shoved him with _all_ my strength into a sharp low branch of a tree. It pierced his stomach.

"For the next half an hour, as I sat there, drained of emotion, watching him gurgle and sputter and _beg_ me for help, I devised a story to tell the police; one that didn't involve me going to prison for murder. I knew a bit about how the justice system worked because I studied it on my own. My father was a police officer, that's why I was so interested in criminal justice. I knew from my readings that there isn't much justice for raped women. So I took his wallet and his gold watch and his phone and his gold _cross_," she laughed humorlessly, "to make it look like a foul robbery. I also took...the condom he had used."

She took a brief moment to explain to Loki what a condom was.

"Willowbrook park is _huge_, and there are some heavily wooded areas that no one goes into. That's where we were. There used to be an insane asylum there. People avoided the area because of some local legend of an escaped mental patient called 'Cropsey'. As the legend went, he used to live in the abandoned hospital buildings and kidnap and kill kids at night who ventured to far into the woods on a dare or a prank.

"I destroyed all his valuables well away from his corpse and buried the ashes under a heavy rock in the woods, left all the car doors open, poured the contents of my backpack and his briefcase all over the ground, with gloved hands, then went to look for a road...It was in the middle of winter, and it was so_ frigid_ out. I was in so much pain I could barely walk. After a while, my legs just collapsed under me and I passed out. I don't remember what happened next but the next thing I do remember was waking up in a hospital..._two days later_. Some homeless woman wandering near the old abandoned hospital buildings saw me and went to the police. The police found Mr. Carson's corpse about a mile and a half from where I passed out. Needless to say, the cops questioned and probed at me the minute I woke up. I told them my story exactly as I had planned to. Nothing elaborate. Nothing more, nothing less. I had a concussion and I was dehydrated, so the 'I don't remember' line worked out well for me.

"They seemed to buy it, especially when the tears started flowing. Plus it helped that I was battered and bruised. But inside I was furious I couldn't kill the bastard again. I had a hairline fracture in my pelvis, a black eye, swollen lip, bruised arms and legs and...the doctors who had examined me and administered the rape kit told me I had so much damage that…," she looked out the window, thoughtfully, "that I'd likely never be able to have children.

"When I saw Mrs. Carson finally on the third day, I could tell…she knew. The funny thing is that she look relieved. She didn't say anything to me. She didn't smile. She didn't ask how I was doing, but she looked at me. She looked at me for a long time. Then I could swear that I saw her nod at me,_ so_ slightly. Then she left my hospital room. I never saw her again after that. She signed me back over to the state and I went back into an orphanage. That's where I stayed for the next year. But it wasn't all so bad because I was back with my very best friend, Shanice." Noni looked up at him and smiled. He smiled back, relieved that there was at least something that made her happy in those days.

But her story wasn't finished yet.

"Shanice was my best friend from middle school. Both our moms were on drugs so we found something that connected us both in a way that we couldn't connect to someone else our age. I was sort of like her big sister though we were only a few months apart in age. She couldn't cook for herself, so I used to cook for us both when we were younger and hungry and our moms were running the streets. She didn't have any other close relatives so I was pretty much all she had. Her mom had been on drugs since before she was born so she had a memory problem and almost burned her house down once because she forgot she was cooking something. Luckily that had been a time when her mother was actually home so social services didn't suspect neglect and haul her to a home like I had been. We even went to college together. Um, college is tertiary, higher education for Midgardians. She wanted to go wherever I went, because despite all her friends in school, like me, she was alone in her own suffering. So we suffered alone together.

"She, uh. She was very skinny in school, 'primary school'. Bony arms and legs, no breasts, but when we got around 'secondary school' or 'high school', around say, 11th grade, that's when she began to fill out and develop her lady parts. And guys used to go crazy for her. She wasn't promiscuous or anything because I threatened to beat her ass if I found out she was sleeping around. I got some attention too, but not nearly as much as her. Where we grew up, the younger guys weren't really attracted to girls that looked like me."

"Well it's clear that we Asgardians have better eyesight, love. Naturally," Loki jested and grinned.

Noni chuckled, remembering Heimdall's amazing powers of sight. She blushed, suddenly feeling bashful, but continued. "She came up with the _brilliant_ idea," she said, her voice tinged with sarcasm, "that we should become _exotic dancers_ in order to pay for college. You see, public education in America is free for students up until college. Then you have to start paying for it. And it can get very expensive, especially if you went where we did…New York University…"

Loki followed her explanations with ease, but he was interested in a particular part of what she had just said. "You used to be an exotic _dancer_?" He had a vague mental picture of his mind. After all, Asgard had dancers as well, he just wasn't certain about the 'exotic' part. That could mean a number of things.

She hesitated, feeling the heat rise up her neck and to her cheeks. She really hoped he wouldn't think less of her. "I used to take my clothes off while dancing…for money."

Loki's breath caught.

Noni looked at him for a moment, then looked straight forward, and nervously continued. "We call it 'Stripping', or 'burlesque', or 'cabaret'. There are differences, and since essentially the goal of _my_ type of dance was to get as much money from my customers as possible, I was just a stripper." She finished quickly, and side glanced at him again.

Loki crossed his hands in his lap, finding that he was having a _very_ hard time keeping them to himself after that revelation. A rosy red colored his face, blatant against the pale contrast of his skin. Noni looked at him full on then and burst into laughter. "Are you blushing!? You've already _seen_ me naked!"

Loki felt defensive. "That doesn't mean I've gotten used to...the _allure_ of imagining you that way. You have no idea how seductive you are with your clothes on, do you? But go ahead and laugh temptress. We'll see who has the last laugh.._later,_" he growled.

"Oh is that a threat?" She giggled.

"No. A guarantee." He was very serious for a moment, then gave in and laughed as well, leaning back on his elbow, facing her. "I am not upset about that. I could see in your face that you were worrying what I would think. Well, I think that these mortal men_ should_ pay to see any part of you. They are not _worthy_ of your glory, darling. That's what I think."

She smiled and lay beside him, her palm against her head, lost amongst the curls.

"But know this," he added with a warning tone, "I would put out the eyes of any man that _dared_ look at you that way now. Then I would give _you_ a good spanking. I know you can't help that you _reek_ of sexuality...but still."

"Ooh, that's some _dirty_ talk, sir. I thought you said you would never hurt me?"

"Oh please, you would _enjoy_ it too much for it to _hurt,_" he flashed his pearly white smile.

Noni considered that statement and bit her bottom lip suggestively, while eyeing him. He shook with internal laughter.

"Continue, love. Before we get…_distracted_." This was good, he thought. Her mind is out of that..._dark place_. He made her laugh. This is what she needs.

Noni went on.

"She begged me to work at the strip club with her. She didn't want to do it alone, so I went. I was at a time in my life where my self-esteem wasn't…at its best. That made the decision easier. But we had money now, so we never went home to an empty fridge or a cold house in the winter. I bought a gun, a small revolver that I took with me everywhere. Security was tight at the club, but I still carried it with me." She took a moment to tell him about the bouncer, Lester before going on. "Exotic dancers have these names, nicknames; stage names. Names that people knew you by other than your real name."

"Yes, I know what you mean." He smiled widely. "I use to call Thor, Sparkle Boy when we were young. You know, because of the lightning thing."

Noni laughed aloud. "Sparkle Boy?"

"Yes, he _hated_ it. Used to chase me around with Mjölner when I would call him that. 'Manly men do not _sparkle_,' he said, and he's nothing if not a _manly man_. So then I started calling him_ Manly_ Man. He hated that too. Said it sounded sarcastic. It was sarcastic, I told him. That's the point."

Noni shook with laughter, imagining Loki and his brother arguing over nicknames. Then she suddenly felt very sad for the both of them. She wished that they would make amends, but at this point, she had no idea what to expect of that situation, so she just kept going. "Well, _my_ nickname was Mocha V."

"Ooh, I like that already. Sounds chocolaty."

"You would," she said as she pushed gently at his chest. "The V stood for voluptuous."

"For obvious reasons I assume?"

"Obvious indeed. Well, we had this frequent patron who used to spend lots of money there. He was what we called a 'high-roller' or a man with lots of money to spend with our club. He went by the name Mr. O'Connor and was _very_ fond of Shanice. He'd always spend the most money for private dances from her when he was in town. I always thouhgt he looked a little sleazy by the way he dressed. A casual suit with a v-neck black shirt under the jacket. His goatee looked shady too. As did the entourage of 'business associates' he always had with him. That was his whole story, that he was a business man from upstate New York and would travel to the city a few times a month for business meetings and such.

"I asked him what his business was, he said foreign trade. I asked him what kind of foreign trade, he told me precious items. He told us that he couldn't get into the specifics about his trade because his buyers were very private people. I was you and and naïve, I admit, and when his lawyer showed the contract, I fell for the ploy. After all, I used to see how much he spent at the club. He booked us for a private Christmas party five and a half hours away in a place called Rochester. Our boss signed us up for the works, free hotel stay, plus over a thousand dollars a piece for each girl. There were eight of us in all.

"We drove up in the back of a limousine, fully clothed this time, with wine and food to last us all the way there. Mr. O'Connor…Reece was his first name, Reece seemed like a nice guy. He told us about his kids and about all his ex-wives. We knew one thing for sure, this guy was _paid_. I started to get more comfortable, thanks to the wine and the comfort of Shanice at my side. She was giggly-drunk and leaning on me. I decided not to let it go too far to my head, it was best at least _one_ of us were sober.

"We arrived at the hotel at Eleven PM on Christmas Eve and got settled into the hotel. Shanice slipped out in the middle of the night to be with Reece…you can _guess_ what they were doing. The next day, Christmas we dressed in our sexy Santa costumes with out hats and stockings and garter belts. The works. I did my hair up in a low bun…and hid my miniature revolver inside. I didn't know what to expect. Luckily the gun was small and my hair is thick. I made sure the safety was on. And ever since that incident in the woods, I'd been a bit...paranoid about men."

It was part of the reason she tried to avoid being with Danny. He was a bit too _overbearing_ in his advances at times. And more that once, she caught him eyeing her goods with a little too over-zealous amount of lust. He'd pestered her for a date on more than one occasion, but she was just never into him like that. She didn't find him unnattractive, she had just never been with a white guy before…well, that is until now. And now she hadn't just gone outside her race, but outside her_ planet_ as well.

"The party started late, around ten-thirty PM. That's when the guys started to arrive. They were all dressed in suits. It started out fine, Shanice was fluttering around Reece like a butterfly that night, looking over at me and smiling. She looked happy, and for the first time, it seemed in what I thought was too long, like she was _really_ happy. She used to have a boyfriend in high school that used to hit her. He stopped doing that though…when I threw nail polish remover on him and flung a lit match at him. He caught fire and jumped into a filthy puddle of water in a gutter to put himself out. That was when we were seventeen. I told him I'd kill him if he ever put his hands on her again. He never did," the emotion drained from her voice as she recounted that part of the story.

"You see something in me _changed_ that day in the woods. Something _died_. I think it was a tolerance for men trying to take advantage of me. I mean, it was already bad enough that I developed early. I used to get stares from grown men when I was a young as eleven. It was _sickening_. And I think that I just stopped putting up with the bullshit once and for all. And it wasn't just _me_ I had to protect aymore, it was Shanice too…" her voice cracked.

"But I didn't protect her…not this time. I failed her…I failed _both_ of us"

Loki, who had been quiet for some time now, was sensing another dark twist in her story silently slid his hand across the bed to grasp hers. He eyed her intently, focused on what she had to say. She took it and squeezed, wiping a fallen tear away with her other hand before clearing her throat.

"Sometime during the party, they brought out the heroine...that's when I died inside. The music was abruptly cut off, and girls who and been drinking and dancing had been grabbed forcefully and pushed into various rooms. Somewhere amid the screaming I lost Shanice. I saw Reece pull her, pretty gently, into a room and slam the door behind them. They held the girls down and injected them with drugs. I know because another girl was dragged into a room with me. Her name was Sapphire. I'll never forget the way her body convulsed and her eyes rolled back in her head as she died right there next to me, _foaming_ at the mouth.

"The short, fat guy who had injected her cursed out loud. He said, _'Shit, the boss didn't want these bitches dead. He just wants them doped up so they can't fight when he comes to pick 'em up. I'll give that other one less.'_ He was talking about _me_. The man he was with, the bigger, more muscular, yet equally stupid looking one had a cigar in his mouth. He looked at me as he took it out and blew smoke in my face. I tried to jump off the bed but he grabbed my leg so I kicked him in the face with the heel of my boot. I heard the nasty crunching sound of his nose breaking and I _knew_ I was about to die. Then he yelled at me _"You fucking black bitch!"_ He grabbed the back of my costume and ripped it open…that's when I felt the pain. He dragged his lit cigar across my back and I _screamed _in pain, then he rolled me over and pinned me down.

_" 'Oh you're a pretty one'_ he said. The other man was busy dragging the dead girl's body off the bed._ 'I don't wanna fuck her with this dead whore on the bed'_ he said as he laughed. Then the tall guy said_ 'Oh yeah, and I want _this_ one conscious for it.'_ They were going to rape me. I wasn't having that. I thought quickly. I said _'Wait! I'm sorry I'll…just let me dance for you. Will that make it better? I don't think I've given you a lap dance yet.'_ I just blurted it out. I knew that the chances of them saying yes after I kicked one of them in the face were_ slim_ to none, but I had to try something to get my hands free. To my relief, the guy on top of me began to think. He turned to his buddy and said '_Hey, what you think about that?_'. The short, fat one said _'Why not? Why should the boss have all the fun? He just don't want 'em dead he said. Or injured, you stupid asshole! Don't burn her again. Plus, we haven't seen her tits yet. What's the point of havin' strippers if you don't get to see their tits?'_ The girls had remained fully clothed during the whole party, granted, fully clothed still meant scantily clad. _'Bitch deserved it. Look at my fucjing nose!'_ the taller man said._ 'Ok, you can dance. Don't expect that 'no touchy' rule to go over here. _I'm_ gonna have you first.'_

"I lied and smiled and whispered to him that I'd rather it be him anyway, to make him even more comfortable with letting me go. He liked that, and he got off of me then dragged me off the bed and dropped me in front of him. He towered over me and I could already see his growing…lust through his pants."

Loki felt a pang of disgust rip through him as beads of sweat began to pool at his temple. His heart lurched. But he stayed quiet.

"He sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled out his phone, then started a song. So I got up and I started dancing. I took my Santa hat off first and threw it at him. He liked that and smiled through his blood streaked face, then I made sure to kick off my shoes. They were too high to run in and too loud. His partner was out of the room, dragging the girl's body off somewhere and he left his jacket. He didn't want it to get dirty, I assume. Next I slipped one of my bra straps down over my shoulder, smiling seductively at him and all that bullshit. Then I went for my hair. I started unraveling It carefully, licking my lips and winking at him._ 'my hair is really long'_ I said to him _'will you pull it?'_ he said _'You're damn right I will. I like girls with long hair. Maybe if you're good I'll talk to the Boss about letting me keep you. He has loads of girls anyway. He ships them all over the world. Be good and you can be mine. I'll treat ya real nice.'_ I smiled wide as ever then I said_ 'Okay. But before you pull my hair...I'm gonna pull on this.'_ then I shot him in the face.

"I didn't have time to react to his blood splattering all over me so I ran to lock the door. I reached into the pockets of the fat man because he had been driving one of the black jeeps from earlier that day. He still had the keys, thankfully. I picked up the wooden chair and burst the window, then I climbed out. That's when I sliced open my back on the glass, as if a burn wasn't bad enough. I made it to the jeep and sped off. I regreted in_ instantly_ because I had to leave Shanice to go get help. There were too many guys in that house for me and my five bullet revolver to shoot, and I'm sure they had guns too. Bigger ones. I drove as far as I could to get away from those people but not far enough to be too far from Shanice. I happened on another house party about twelve miles away. It was full of drag queens." She took a minute to explain what a drag queen was, and Loki cocked an eyebrow. What a bizarre turn of events.

"That's where I met Terrance. He was visiting friends in Rochester that Christmas. He called the police for me when I collapsed from blood loss on the front porch. Then he took me in later.

"What happened to Shanice?" He asked, concerned.

"They murdered her. They strangled her and left her at that house with the body of the other girl." By then Noni couldn't cry anymore. Her soul felt dried up. She let Loki's hand go, rolled over on her back and looked up at the ceiling with a long, sorrowful sigh. "I left the city after that. They never found the 'Boss' who tried to sell us into sex slavery. And the strip club owner skipped town after he found out the cops were sniffing around. So I'm guessing it was all a set-up and they'd been in business before. I bet he was getting much more than a thousand dollars for each of us. The body of the man I shot in the face was still there. His name was Edward Snider and he was wanted for rape and sexual assault in seven states. They got three DNA samples off Shanice but they could only matc one man. She had been gang-raped.

"Reece's name was really Jasper Cain. They found him in a ditch on the side of the road. He'd bled to death from bite marks to his genitals that matched Shanice's teeth marks, and I guess his 'friends' just unceremoniously tossed him so as not to lead the cops to them. I wish I would have known how it happened. I think though, he was going to try to keep her for himself. He always paid extra attention to her when he came to the club. I don't think she was having any of that though, that's why she bit him, and he killed her.

"The police got a kick out of the fact that I had hidden a gun in my hair. I didn't see the humor in it at the time though. I wasn't brought up on charges and they filed the killing as an act of self defense. I didn't feel safe in the city after that, so I left, quit school and moved in with Terrance. He adopted Grimm for me from a friend of his. Without the both of them, I don't know where I would be right now." She just stopped talking. Too empty to talk anymore.

Loki looked at Noni for a long moment. She was still looking straight up at the ceiling.

He thought his _own_ life had been bad. That seemed like an unfunny joke in comparison. He rolled over on his own back and stared into the ceiling as well, not knowing the right words to say.


End file.
